Dripping Red
by PunkfoxAngel
Summary: People are dying in the close knit town of Forks, WA. Does the new kid, outcast Edward Cullen, have something to do with it? Or is there something more going on in this small town? Can Bella Swan figure out the connection? Or will she be the next victim?
1. Chapter 1

**People are dying in the close knit community of Forks, Washington. Does the new kid, outcast Edward Cullen, have something to do with it? Or is there something more going on in this small town? Can Bella Swan figure out the connection? Or will she be the next victim?**

Angel AN** - **First off I want to thank my fic wifey PunkFox for going on this journey with me and for her patience while I write my bits. Punky Baby, I would have been able to do this without you. You complete me. Thank you to TwiReaderAbi for her awesome beta skills and telling us exactly how it it. Thanks to PrettyPeens for Proof reading and FrecklesFiction for Pre-reading.

Punk A/N- OMG this story has been a long time in the making! Thank you to my Angel! Wifey I have found a soulmate in all things horror! Thank you for telling me I'm not crazy for loving things all bloody and gore. Abi, Pretty, Freckles, you guys have taken our lil story and made it readable for all. Thank you for sticking with us!

This story is NSFW and is rated M for extreme and graphic violence and lemonny action if you are not 17 then please close your browser and don't continue reading. If you a squimish or have issues with violent murder then I also suggest you do not read on but if you want something different then read on and welcome to a bumpy ride.

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to the genius Stephanie Meyer, thanks to one freaking amazing dream she had.**

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**But, had they lived very, very long lives, they could not have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. **

**Narrator, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre**

Saturday Jan 30, 2010

The waves lap at the sand of a desolate beach, the sound of water rhythmically caressing the soft sand, filling the night air. A full moon is lazily rising in the night sky, illuminating a couple partially dressed on the sands. Sam Uley and his girlfriend Emily Call are partaking in some much needed alone time. They had been at a party in town that broke up early, and decided to indulge in the privacy of the darkened beach at a time of night they knew they would be free to do what they please.

Emily had always joked about them having sex in a public place, and tonight the stars seemed to have aligned for them to make their little fantasy come true. They are both slightly intoxicated, not enough to be considered drunk, but just enough that their inhibitions are slightly bend-able, flexible if you will. Sam pulls a joint out of his pocket as they get out of the car. They normally didn't partake in such activities, but he wants to make sure nothing stops Emily from going along with what he is sure will happen. His dick is already pulsing with anticipation.

She scopes out the area around the beach and after seeing no one around Emily knows full well that nothing will stop her from making this come true. She uses her feminine ways to tease and taunt Sam, wrestling around with him on the beach until she has him on his back. She abruptly plants a no nonsense kiss on his lips and moves swiftly away from him and toward the ebbing tide. The movement shocks Sam as he is hopeful that they are finally on their way to making this happen. He opens his eyes at the sound of Emily's giggle to find her pulling her small tank top over her head as she wads in to the dark and torrid waters. The air outside is unusually warm for this time of year but the water is still freezing cold.

As he watches the moonlight shine off her naked back, he calls out to her, "Emily! Damn it, get out of there before you catch a cold, you crazy woman!"

Emily giggles turning to look at him, her arms crossed demurely over her naked chest pressing her breasts together. Sure Sam had seen her naked flesh plenty of times, but it is all part of the game of seduction. She never wants Sam to think of her as "easy", to think of her like the Jessica Newton's and Lauren Mallory's of their school.

She gives him a half smile and raises an eyebrow in challenge, "Make me."

"Oh, oh, oh," Sam chuckles at her challenge. He pulls his body up from the sand slowly, tilting his head at her for a moment before smoothly running the short distance into the water. She lets out a light shriek as his muscular arms wrap around her.

When they're nose to nose, he feels the shivers coming off of her. "Now you're going to get it." He promises in a whisper.

She breaks the kiss he lays on her as she giggles uncontrollably.; He picks up her legs to wrap them around his waist and slowly turns their bodies,to make their way back out of the water. Coming to a stop at the red blanket he had laid out especially for them, he lowers himself to his knees and gently lays her out before him. Her body shimmering in the moonlight as if she is his own personal siren of the sea.

His lips don't leave her body as he trails them across every part of her exposed skin. He settles himself carefully between her legs, making sure not to put too much of his weight on her. Sam is stocky even for his youthful seventeen years while Emily is small and dainty in build, but they fit together like pieces of the same puzzle.

Emily's hands grips onto Sam's shoulders as he comes to a stop, hovering over her chest. Her eyes open as she looks up at him, only to find him staring back at her with a Cheshire cat grin across his face.

She raises her eyebrow at him as she taunts, "What are you waiting for there? Get to it." She wants to be commanding as anticipation of what's to come is coursing through her veins.

With that simple sentence; Sam dives in between her breasts, squeezing the sides together trapping his lips between them as he laps at her skin. The sudden movement and tickle of his licking causes Emily to curl her body in a ball and burst out in a fresh string of giggles that float through the silent, still air around them.

Emily tries to push Sam off halfheartedly, but instead he moves down her body bringing her cut-off jean shorts off with him. He looks at her naked legs thinking, even hoping, that she isn't wearing panties. The thought alone nearly making him explode in his board shorts, but a quick glance into the shorts he still has in his hands reveal her bright pink thong tangled in the material.

He throws the jeans to the side of them on the blanket and opens her legs back up to him, lowering his head to bring her wetness right to the front of him. He doesn't bother with any playing around, pointing his tongue and lapping at her folds immediately. It's clear to him from the wetness hitting his tongue that her body is already prepared and ready for him. He teases her with one last flick of his tongue to her clit before rising back up her body.

He rises up, moving her legs further apart so he can comfortably thrust right into her, but Emily has different plans.

She shakes her head at him as he nips at her jaw line with his teeth lightly.

"No," It is breathy as she tries to form a complete sentence. "I am not getting sand where it shouldn't be."

She pushes him up off of her until he is sitting back on his haunches. She then gives him a look that could have make a priest spontaneously combust as she flips her body around and rises up on all fours.

She looks at him coyly over her shoulder, "Like this."

"Oh shit." Is all Sam can mutter under his breath, as he takes in the sight of his girlfriend before him. "You are….so fucking…..hot." He can't hold himself back from playfully slapping her ass, making her shriek in unexpected pleasure.

He wastes little time in lining himself up behind her. Grabbing her hip with one hand to steady her and moving the head of his cock through her folds with the other. Her wetness allows him to slide back and forth slickly, without resistance. He thrust his hips at the right moment, slamming against her ass as he pushes into her.

"Oh shit!" Emily groans at the feeling of Sam's cock entering her so powerfully. She's glad that no one is around and she doesn't have to hold herself back. There is a freedom there in the expansive quiet of night. It's so much more liberating and Sam's excitement is heightened at the sound of her unhindered moans.

Her head falls back against Sam's shoulder as she rises up on to her knees. Sam's hands move from her hips to wrap around her body holding her to him tighter. His hands massaging her breasts roughly, stopping to pinch and tug at her nipples. He thrusts in short smooth movements as his mouth is latched onto her neck. She is sure to have a mark that she would have to hide from her parents later, but in the throes of pleasure she can't find it in her to care.

"Fuck Sam. Harder. Fuck me harder, baby!" Emily pants out, knowing she is already close, her body already coiling up. Something about them doing this outside, where anyone could stumble upon them has lit the fire inside of her.

Sam begins pulling out in longer strokes and pushes into her harder and harder. Emily takes one of his hands that has been pulling on her tits and trails it down her body. They reach her clit and with her hand on top of his , she rubs the tips of his fingers over her swollen nub.

Sam's feral grunts are low in her ear. "Fuck baby, you like that dontcha? You like it rough." Sam begins rambling off things against her skin and it's just enough to set her off.

Her muscles clench around his cock, sending him into his own release. "Oh fuck….shit…..ahhhhhh!" Sam grunts and groans through his own release, slamming into his girlfriend's tightness one last time, before letting her milk him dry.

As he catches his breath, Sam pulls out of Emily swiftly and releases her gently to collapse on the blanket. He reaches over and tugs the corner of the blanket, wiping himself off hastily before collapsing next to her.

Emily grins up at Sam lovingly. "That was so hot. We definitely need to do it again sometime."

"Well baby, give me a little recovery time here and I'll be up for it again." He promises her, smiling eagerly.

Emily's huff's of laughter are the only thing that can be heard around them. She is sprawled out across the blanket completely sated, with a smile across her face and her eyes closed. She is enjoying the feeling of naughtiness that washes over her at the idea of laying naked outside, slick sweat on her skin as the evidence of what had just transpired between them.

Sam and Emily are blissfully unaware that a short distance from them, a hunter is waiting in anticipation for his own thrills. It has taken all of his willpower to not throw his blade at them while they were still fucking.

_Patience_, he thinks.

"I gotta piss, be right back babe." Sam says giving her a peck on the forehead as he gets up from the ground.

He makes his way, still naked, into the nearby bushes. Sam's head falls back and his eyes close and he lets out a soothing sigh as he's finally able to relieve himself. His eyes pop open as he hears a rustling of the leaves before him. He is a little shocked when from the darkness of the bushes around him he sees the reflection of the full moon bouncing off what looks like the blade of a very sharp knife.

"What the-?" Sam whispers to himself as he tries to figure out what he is seeing.

Instinctively he stumbles backwards as a dark figure steps closer to him.

"What the fuck dude?" Sam asks angrily, realizing that this sick fuck has been watching them, hidden in the bushes like a Peeping Tom the whole time. What Sam is even more frightened by is that the intruder is wearing a hockey mask. "Who are you suppose to be? Jason Vorhees?"

Without a word the masked stranger stalks closer and closer to Sam. The killer looks at the fear flashing like lightning in Sam's eyes and savors the feeling of excitement. It has been so long since he has felt the rush of the hunt and he has missed it immensely. Finally he is going to feel the satisfyingly sweet stickiness of warm blood as it washes over his hands. The fear gripping at Sam's intestines makes him turn and run like the hunted animal he has become.

"Em, fucking run!" Sam screams to his girlfriend, who was still lying on the beach, as his feet hit the soft sand.

Sam only makes it a few steps in her direction before he is violently hit on the back of the head by a hard object. He stumbles and falls face first in the sand, pushing at the ground in an attempt to get up and away from whoever is after him. A warm trickle of blood is cascading its way down Sam's back from his head wound when strong fingers grab his hair and yanks his head forcibly backwards.

"_This is it,_" the killer thinks, as a smile spreads over his face under the hockey mask. The sheer elation spreading through his limbs, as Sam's dread becomes noticeable, driving him forward.

Sam tries to scream out in warning to Emily again but nothing comes out as the blade starts cutting into his throat. Emily looks up to see what appears to be someone holding on to Sam's hair, shocking red blood flowing from his newly acquired neck wound. She can't be sure what she is seeing with nothing but the moon illuminating the area; she knows that it looks all kinds of wrong and her growing fear makes the hairs rise on the back of her neck.

"Stop fucking around Sam!" Emily screams, hoping that this is just a bad joke being played on her, but every cell in her body is screaming for her to run. Sam knows how paranoid she gets when she smokes pot and, for a second, Emily thinks it's just the hallucination of that paranoia.

The killer jerks Sam's head back harder, eliciting a gurgle of pain, as he pulls the blade slowly across his throat cutting into his skin deeper. Euphoria cascades over his body as the first rivulet of blood runs over his fingers making him grumble with pleasure, and he plunges the knife in deeper severing the main artery completely. Blood is spouting out of Sam's neck slower and slower as his heartbeat starts failing, sprinkling the white sand in the crimson fuel of life.

"Nooooo!" Emily screams, immediately placing her hand over her mouth in horror and regret; Regret that she's reminded the crazed killer of her existence. Scrambling to get up from the blanket that Sam had laid out, she tries to convince her frozen muscles to start running.

The killer pulls Sam's head back looking at his lifeless ashen face in triumph; enjoying the gaping wound for a second, before turning to a naked petrified Emily. He stands staring at her, hoping that she'll up the ante and start running. _Hunting is so much better when they think they have a chance to get away_, he thinks, as he takes a slow booted step forwards and throws Sam's lifeless naked body to the ground.

_Run, Bitch!_

He almost starts laughing out loud when Emily turns and runs down the moonlit beach screaming. "Someone help us!"

The sight of Sam's dead crumbled body lying on the sand is the catalyst that shocks Emily's body out of its frozen state. She sets off running in no specific direction, just running. She runs until the muscles in her thighs scream in pain and her lungs feel like they're on fire, but keeps on running until she sees a long forgotten wooden jetty, jutting into the black waters of the lake. Without thinking about the temperature of the water, Emily dives in and swims under it to hide.

What feels like millennia of seconds pass as Emily hides under her wooden salvation. It's almost unbearably cold and she has started shivering... from fear as well as from the arctic water encasing her naked form.

The deathly quiet of the night is only broken up by the occasional screech of an owl. Then from the silence, Emily hears footsteps falling heavily on the wooden jetty. Each step makes the wood creak eerily; making Emily pray silently that it's not the messenger of death she met on the beach. After a few minutes the footsteps come to a halt on the edge of the jetty, she looks up to see a darkened figure above her standing there, silently, patiently.

Emily places both of her hands over her mouth out of fear. Fear that he can hear her breathing. Fear that he can hear her teeth clattering against each other as she shivers. Fear that she'll cry out. As he slowly turns away from the edge she lets out a slow relieved breath, but before she is able to take another breath a long thick blade comes plunging through the cracks of the jetty and into her shoulder.

"Aargh!" she cries out in agony, as the blade is pulled out of her painfully. She can feel hot blood running over her cold breast and decides to try to swim away; as she exits the bottom of the jetty a pair of strong harsh hands grabs her hair, pushing her under the water. She kicks and claws at the killers strong hands as she start running out of air. Her lungs are on fire and fighting to take in a breath. Just as she is about to resign herself to drowning he pulls her from the water and violently throws her onto the jetty. She tries to scramble back, spluttering as she tries to breathe again, but her feet slip from under her as the killer makes his way towards her agonizingly slowly.

The killer raises the blade over his head; his heart racing in anticipation, as he brings it down and lodges it into Emily's head, splitting her open from the top of her skull to her nose. The force of the blow is so powerful that he is unable to remove the blade as easily as he anticipated. Sending a thrill through his body as he realizes that he'll have to place his foot on her naked breast to provide him the leverage he needs to pull the blade out.

He crouches down and runs a long finger along the wound in her head, sighing satisfyingly as the beauty of her death makes every cell in his body sing. The killer grabs her by the hair and drags her back to where Sam's lifeless body lies still. His artwork is almost complete, as he places them in a deathly final embrace. He stands up and cracks his neck side to side. His head falls back down as he takes in his masterpiece of work, laid out before him. He licks his lips slowly at the sight, before bending down on one knee to finish the job.

~DR~

As the sun rises over a peaceful beach on La Push Reservation, early Sunday morning, the only sounds that can be heard come from the shifting of sand as a shirtless man runs across it. The sun has only just risen above the horizon, but his body is already covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Edward Cullen comes here to run every morning ever since his family moved to Fork's.

During the week Edward likes to drive to the beach for his early morning run, however on the weekends he has more time on his hands and will run all the way from his house in Forks. Having no friends and dealing with the monotony of his high school life, Edward runs until his feet can't carry him any longer, listening to the mixture of lapping water and his own thoughts over the pattering of his feet every morning.

He looks out over the water as he runs past a jetty and inhales the clean clear air deeply. Coming from a big city, the scenery is quite different here to Edward. As much as he preferred the city life he knows they have a reason to be here, that they have a mission, so he doesn't question it. He continues on his daily routine and just waits for the day things will change.

He doesn't realize today just might be that day. As he looks back down at the sand before him, his legs begin to slow. There are red speckled drops tainting the pure white sand in front of him. His eyes follow it for a moment before his feet continue behind. As he moves, a hushed prayer leaves his lips. Hoping that someone above is listening and he won't find what he suspects is at the end of the trail.

His eyes fall on a bundle of material spread out on the sand. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the pristine white sand surrounding it. He can see a lumpy form under it and the red trail he's been following ends at the blanket. Edward's only thought is that it is all wrong. Still, he stops at the edge of the blanket. He swallows thickly, preparing himself to do what he knows he has to. He bends over slightly as his shaky hand reaches out to grasp the material.

When he has it in his grasp he closes his eyes tightly, repeating the prayer from before once more in his head. His eyes open as what the blanket was concealing comes into view. He only has to look momentarily before his legs stumble backwards. His small breakfast of toast and orange juice comes back up his throat and lands all over the sand before him.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and looks back over at the blanket again. There's so much blood that it takes him a moment to identify what he sees. He can make out what looks like two bodies, a male and a female. Edward can see the male body's throat is cut open wide. The females head is also split open on one side. What makes Edward's stomach flip and empty itself again is the rest of the female's body: It's gaping open from her throat, all the way down, past what is hidden still by the blanket.

Edward has read enough of his father's medical journals to know that it is not right, what he's looking at. Still, he looks closer to be sure. As he nears the bodies again his fingers pinch his nose and his hand covers his mouth. It doesn't take him long in his second glance, to confirm his earlier thoughts. His vision becomes spotty, and his head begins to swirl.

This woman, who ever she is, is missing her heart.

~DR~

Chief Charlie Swan, of the Fork's Washington Police Department, steps away from the crime scene to catch his breath. He looks over as his deputy Seth Clearwater, who is interviewing the young man who discovered the bodies on the beach.

He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. They have already identified the bodies; all he can think of is that he knew who these kids were. The fact that they were the same age as his own little girl is not lost on him. He's grateful she wasn't the body he looked at today, naked and mutilated. She was safely in her bed when this was happening to these kids. He vows then and there, as sure as he stands on that sacred beach, that he will find who did this; who opened Emily Call's chest up, and took her heart. He knows where to start.

He will start with the message, carved brutally into Sam Uley's chest.

_FUCKING THE WHORE_

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Angel AN: So... What do you think? Please hit the pretty little review button at the bottom and let us know what you think. If you don't I may have to come stalk you with my Jason Vorhees mask on. We're only going to post again if the response warrants it_,_ so if you don't tell us you like it we won't post again.

Punk AN- Phew that was rough...still with us? Then let us know! Hit that button and either tell us we're crazy or your ready for more!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to the genius Stephanie Meyer, thanks to one freaking amazing dream she had. Our dream is to mix things up a little.**

Angel A/N- Punky darling, just to make it clear - I would **NOT** have been able to do this without you. You are the blood in my guts, the ax in my murderous hands, the psycho to my killer. i love you. To our awesome beta TwiReaderAbi, proof reader PrettyPeens and pre-reader Freckles Fiction for helping us make this pretty and a huge smooch to RobstenCuteness for the awesome banner! You too those of you who did review, you rock our worlds and thank you to those of you who have alerted and favorited DR.

Punk A/N- So after having a so so reaction to the first chapter I'm a little leary of this one. Hoping we get something more here. When we set out to write this we wanted something "different". Apparently we have succeeded in this. Luv to my other half writing wifey and all those she mentioned up there ^^^

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CHAPTER 2

**She was a whore. My mama was a whore. But I don't fault her for that. It ain't what she done, but how she done it. Long as I can remember, she'd bring men up to the house. My daddy was there too, but it didn't matter none to her. She'd make me watch.**

**Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer**

**Monday Feb 1, 2010**

Bella Swan emerges from the driver side of her old beat up Chevy truck just as the sun peaks out from the overcast sky. An odd feeling of foreboding comes over her as soon as she crosses the line into the Fork's High School parking lot. She tries to brush it off but it's confirmed as she pulls into her regular parking space and looks at the sprawling grounds that surround the school.

There are numerous police cars and a few news trucks lined up along the curb in front of the school, more than this town has seen in ages. Bella seems to have trouble catching her breath as she begins to have flash backs to a year ago when the scene had been much the same. Except it hadn't been in front of her school then but it had been in front of her own home.

She shakes her head to rid herself of the memories she has longed to forget but memories that always haunt her. With a deep breath she continues up the pathway, slowly towards the school. She walks hesitantly and in a daze as she looks at everything surrounding her. Bella is trying to make sense of it all in her head when a hand on her shoulder makes her jump and spin around.

"Hey." Behind Bella, her best friend Rosalie stands with a shocked look on her face. Rose is the complete opposite of Bella in every way. While Bella is the brown eyed, brunette girl next door, Rose is the buxom blonde haired, blue eyed vixen destined to be a super model. Sometime in grade school they became friends and have been ever since.

"What the fuck, Rose?" Bella shouts, only slightly able to keep her voice just short of hysterical as she tries to catch the breath that had caught in her throat.

Rose holds her hands up in mock surrender and apologetically says, "Hey, sorry, didn't mean to scare you there."

Bella immediately feels guilty for jumping down Rose's throat. She knows it wasn't her fault that she's so jumpy. She shakes her head slightly and waves her hand around drawing attention to the scene around them. "What the hell is going on?"

As they continue along the path towards the school Rose exclaims, "Oh shit you haven't heard?"

Bella shakes her head in the negative and looks completely lost.

"Sam Uley and Emily Call were killed Saturday night."

Bella stops and gasps out loud at Rose's words. "What? Oh my god!" Bella covers her mouth in surprise.

Rose nods her head sadly before continuing, "Yeah, apparently after the party at Jessica Newton's they went out to the lake on La Push and …..yeah." The innuendo in Rose's voice tells Bella what exactly everyone assumes the two were up to before their death.

Bella is still trying to wrap her head around everything Rose is saying as they continue to walk in silence.

"Yeah and that's not even the worst part. Apparently they were, like, sliced and diced." Rose enunciates each word. "I mean, like, brutally attacked."

Bella's head swivels around to look at Rose with huge saucer eyes.

"Hey, that's just what I heard. I mean the cops are everywhere. News from Seattle is coming in to cover it. It's nuts. They say they haven't seen something this bad since last….well just, it's bad." She finishes when Bella eyes close painfully in memory.

Rose doesn't have to finish her sentence for Bella to know exactly what she was talking about. A year ago, it was Bella being interviewed by police and news cameras following her around everywhere. She knows how bad things had been all too well.

"So, I mean why are they here? Why are they at school," Bella motioned around to the various law enforcement and news vehicles surrounding the area, "if it happened out on the reservation?" Bella asks.

La Push reservation and Forks are bordering small towns. The only high school is in Forks so a lot of the kids from the reservation come across the border for school. Bella just couldn't understand why all this coverage at the high school if it had occurred out on the reservation.

"I don't know. They're asking everyone who may have known them. All the kids from the Rez and anyone else who may have seen them out there," Rose replies bouncing next to Bella like she couldn't be more excited to spread the gossip to the one person in this small town who hadn't already heard it. "Oh and another thing - Guess who found the bodies? Edward. Cullen."

"What?" The story was starting to sound more and more far-fetched as Bella heard more of it. Edward and his family had recently moved here from Chicago. Bella didn't really know too much about him. They've talked a few short times during shared classes but that was it. He keeps to himself for the most part, which in high school terms means that he gets picked on when the more outspoken guys in the school feel like it, and was otherwise ignored.

Bella didn't even get a chance to wonder about what Edward would have been doing out on a beach in La Push as her thoughts were interrupted by her tripping over something in the pathway. She was barely able to catch herself before falling flat on her face. She looked over to see who the foot across the pathway belonged to and was met with the site of the third female member of their little clique. They had been friends with Alice Brandon for the past five years. Alice was little and dainty and mostly quiet.

If Bella really ever stopped to think about it, she wasn't sure why they were even friends. Most of the time it would seem that they more or less ignored Alice. If it wasn't for the fact that Jasper was madly in love with her, Bella doubted they would even talk to her.

Just like usual, Alice sat on the little brick wall with her hands cupping her face. Her appearance was sullen and Bella could only guess the reason why - Jasper Whitlock. The man was always, hopelessly, making this girl wait for him. If he wasn't one of her best guy friends she would really give him a piece of her mind. As it was though she figured this was their battle to have out. She had more than enough of her own things to worry about. Bella looked down at their dainty friend with sympathy.

"Hey Ali," Bella says as she tilts her head to the side so she is in her friend's line of sight. "What's goin on?"

Alice blew out a breath that made her lips fluttered. "Just waitin' on Jazz."

Rose and Bella shared a knowing look that was missed by Alice.

"Late again?" Rose already knew the answer before she asked the question but she wasn't sure what else to say to their friend.

"Yeah, it's fine. He just said we would meet up before school to work on our English project but, whatev. He probably meant tomorrow or something." Alice brushes off her friends questioning. She feels defensive of Jasper and just wants to forget the whole morning even happened. She grabs her books from their perch next to her, forces a happy smile on her face and jumps down to join them.

"So, crazy right? I mean, all this stuff going on?" Alice says looking around at the hustle and bustle of cop and media cars.

Before Bella and Rose have a chance to respond a loud whoop is heard behind them. All three of them turn to see Emmett and Jasper walking their way. Even from a distance they can see Emmett's burly frame radiating excitement.

As they near, Emmett throws his arm around Rose's neck and plants a kiss on her cheek as she grins up at him. Emmett looks around at the rest of them wiggling his eyebrows. The man has a permanent grin on his face most days but today it seems amplified.

"Crazy shit right? You can just feel the electricity in the air." He fakes a shiver running through his body for emphasis. "This little town hasn't seen this much action since last-" His words are cut off as he takes notice of the look on Bella's face. Rose's hand makes contact with the back of his head in her typical slap.

"Tact asshole." She hisses in his ear.

Emmett suddenly turns contrite at the look on Bella's face. "Sorry Bells, It's just….you know?"

Bella closes her eyes and waves her hand around in a forget about it kind of motion.

Jasper takes note of the change of atmosphere and decides to throw himself to the wolves and apologise to Alice for being late once again.

"Hey Ali, honey, I'm so sorry. I know I said I would be here but I slept through my alarm this morning."

Alice doesn't seem to accept it and instead narrows her eyes at him looking quite sad. It breaks Jasper's heart every time she looks at him that way, and it seems to be happening a lot more lately.

"Again Jasper? Maybe if you didn't stay up all night playing Xbox you would be able to stay true to your word." Her words are full of venom that is not normally shown and with them out she says good bye to Bella and Rose before turning on her heels and stomping off.

Jasper groans and looks at the group. "I'll catch you guys at lunch." He bumps his fist with Emmett's and jogs off in the direction Alice left. "Ali, baby, wait up!"

The remaining members of the group all share a look at the plight of their friends. It's always the same story with them. Emmett is successful in changing the subject as he glances around the area.

"Hey Bell's where Jake? How's he doing?"

Bella's heart constricts suddenly. In all the confusion since she had arrived to school her boyfriend Jacob was the last thought. Now that she thought of him she began to panic. Jacob lived on La Push and had grown up with Sam. She figured he must know by now what had happened and now she needed to find him.

"Fuck. No I haven't talked to him since Sat." Bella yanks her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and begins punching a text message out.

~DR~

An early 90's Ford conversion van comes to a halt a short distance away from them. Edward Cullen gets out of his van and immediately feels the eyes of the whole school on him. It was never part of the plan to have so much of a focus on him, the plan was to blend in or disappear into obscurity. Why did he have to find the bodies?

He barely makes it three steps towards the school when the gathering media notices his arrival and start descending like vultures. A group of people jostle around him throwing questions his way; pushing, pulling and prodding at him in an attempt to get his attention.

"What were you doing on the beach so early in the morning?"

"Is it true that they were drained of blood?"

"Who do you think is responsible?"

"Do you think this is an isolated event?"

"Were there any signs of satanic ritual?"

"Do you think there is a connection with the Renee Swan murder a year ago?"

Edward's head snaps up and glares at the reporters but before he's able to punch his way through the throng Seth Clearwater and a couple other police officers step in and push the reporters back.

"Give the kid some space people!"

"Thanks Seth," Edward says as he steps through the line of police officers onto the school grounds.

Edward can still feel a million eyes on him as the whole school stares at him.

"Hey Cullen, you think you a rock star now?" Tyler Crowley says as he steps up from behind and knocks the books Edward was carrying out of his hands.

"You're such a fucking freak," Mike laughs as Edward crouches down to pick up his books.

"Hey, hey, hey, guys, don't do that." From a few feet away Jacob Black frowns at Tyler and Mike as Tyler was about to push Edward over with his foot.

"What we're just having some fun with the freak here," Mike says sneering at Edward. Mike could never understand the pull of multiple facial piercing, city people must have a different idea about what is appealing.

"Yeah, whatever," Jake scoffs distracting them long enough for Edward to make his getaway.

Both Mike and Tyler turn around to notice the freak vanished before turning back to Jacob.

"What the fuck Black we were just having fun?" Mike pushes on Jacob's shoulder half-heartedly pissed at him for ruining their morning fun.

"Yeah, schools crawling with cops and news reporters. You think it's the best time to get caught fucking around with the freak, fun or not?" Jacob looks back and forth between his two friends.

Both Mike and Tyler grumble their agreement. Just like a typical teenage boy Tyler's thoughts quickly switch to sex.

"Hey man, I saw you and Swan disappeared from Jessica's party early Saturday. So? Did you close the deal?" He makes a motion of his hand coming down to his pants suggesting a sexual act. Jacob just grins at them and raises his eyebrows. He's not exactly agreeing with them but he's not saying anything to the contrary either. If these two were to find out that he had not slept with Bella Swan in the three years they had been together he would be the laughing stock of the male population at school.

Luckily, his phone buzzing in his pocket stops him from having to go any further in the conversation. He pulls it out to see a message from Bella sent a few moments ago.

**Hey heard about S and E. Just checking in. You coming to school?**

He raises his phone up between him and the two guys across from him and shakes it back and forth between his fingers.

"Speaking of which, boys, I must be going." They do the normal fist bump male good-bye and Jacob takes off across the campus. He heads to the normal spot in the center quad that his group is usually at. He takes a deep breath as his girlfriend comes into view and heads in their direction.

Jacob walks up to their group where Bella has her back turned to him. His arm slips around her shoulders making her jump slightly in the surprise. He kisses her hair as she looks up at him.

"Hey babe." He gives her a half smile that is completely forced. She wraps her arms around him and holds as tight as her slim body can manage.

"Hey, we heard. Why didn't you call me? How are you?"

Jacob looks around at Emmett and Rose and speaks to everyone at once.

"Things were crazy around the Rez all day yesterday. I was helping my dad with Emily's parents. They were just…..wrecked. Sorry, I was just all tied up. Have you talked to your dad?" He looks down at his beautiful girlfriends doe eyes.

"Nah, I was with Rose all day yesterday by the time I got home it was late and Charlie wasn't home. I just figured he was working. He was gone before I woke up this morning. I didn't hear till I got to school."

"Can we not talk about this right now? I mean it's just-"

"No, you're right I'm sorry."

Before they can continue on with the conversation, the loud speakers throughout the school squeak on. The principals voice comes through the scratchy speakers ordering all students to their classrooms. The group says their good-byes to one another and go their separate ways.

Bella is almost to her third period English class when the sound of heavy footsteps running towards her makes her look up. She's able to make quick eye contact with Edward Cullen just as he rushes past her. She shakes the feelings that rise in her as she steps through the class room door and takes her seat.

~DR~

Edward emerges from the front of the school to see all the news vans have left and only one police car remains stationed in front of the school. He pulls up the hood of his sweatshirt and ducks his head as he quickly makes his way to his van.

As he yanks the rusty door open and slams it behind him his head falls back against the headrest. His eyes close and he takes his first deep breath. After a moment he reaches to start the ignition just to turn on his ipod, pushing play. The first song echoes through the van hauntingly.

**You will be the death of me**

**Yeah You will be the death of me**

**Bury it**

**I won't let you bury it**

**I won't let you smother it**

**I won't let you murder it**

**Our time is running out**

**Our time is running out**

**You can't push it underground**

**You can't stop it screaming out**

As the lyrics register in his mind Edward quickly hit's the next button.

**This place inside my mind, a place I like to hide**

**You don't know the chances. What if I should die?**

**A place inside my brain, another kind of pain**

**You don't know the chances. I'm so blind.**

Edward turns up the volume and lays his head back once again as he lets the heavy guitar riffs take him away.

~DR~

Bella makes a stop at the police station on her way home from school hoping to catch Charlie. Once she walks into the small building she's immediately engulfed in a crushing hug from her dad. She knows already what his thoughts are. Charlie is used to traffic stops and small domestic disturbance's. The normal occurrence's of small town life. Nothing like what he was sure to have seen out on that beach. Bella knows he's doing the typical "it could have been you" dad stance. Taking into account their history, in this case she doesn't want to think about how true that could have been.

"Hey dad."

"Hey. You make it through school okay?" Charlie looks at his daughter with nothing but worry in his eyes. Even his years as a hard faced cop can't negate his worry for his daughter.

"Yeah it was alright. It was just so….I don't know. Weird. Yah know? Just a bit much."

Charlie nods in agreement. He understands the strain of dealing with these new death's after everything that had happened the year before. He doesn't envy Bella for having to deal with it all on top of her high school life.

"Well I'm gonna be working here late so-"

Bella doesn't give Charlie a chance to finish. "It's alright I'll probably just end up staying at Rose's tonight if that's cool with you?"

Charlie nods to the affirmative. "Yeah, it would make me feel better if you weren't alone."

After saying good bye to her dad and Seth, Bella makes a quick call to Rose to let her know her plans and heads to her house to pack a bag.

As Bella is walking down the stairs of her house, with her packed bag slung over her shoulder, she is lost in her own thoughts. One would think she would be thinking of her boyfriend and how he is handling the death of a friend, but no. She finds herself thinking of Edward Cullen. What it must have been like for him to find those bodies on the beach.

She doesn't realise that she has come to a stop right outside the door leading down to the basement of her house. Before she can stop them other thoughts begin to invade her head.

_**February 2009**_

_Bella's mother would never win mother of the year awards. She was flighty and immature and more often than not Bella would play mother to her. Bella would always be the one to reel in her over-exuberant excitement at every new hobby or passing fancy. Renee would jump from scrapbooking, to knitting to playing the guitar in a matter of weeks just because the fancy took her._

_One thing Renee Swan always made sure of was to be home when Bella arrived back from school every day. They'd sit at the kitchen table, talking about the events of the day and plans for the future over grilled cheese sandwiches, before Renee would rush off to whatever had taken her fancy that day. Bella was aware of the rumours surrounding her mother infidelity but she ignored them because she loved her mom._

_It was an exceptionally cold February afternoon when Bella returned from school shivering and pale. Jake was supposed to have given her a lift home but he had some family emergency to deal with and had taken off before school had even finished, resulting in Bella having to walk home._

_It struck Bella as odd that the house was eerily quiet when she walked in the door. Renee always had the music blaring. Bella walked in and dropped her book bag at the back door before turning around and rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them._

"_Mom! I'm home!" Bella called and she stood still listening for a reply. When none came Bella shrugged and thought that maybe Renee had an appointment she forgot to tell her about. It wouldn't be the first time that Renee forgot to tell Bella something. As Bella walked towards the stairs she noticed that the door leading to the basement was ajar. Maybe her mother was down there again, hiding the results of her newest hobby._

_Odd sounds were filtering through the gap in the door but Bella was having some difficulty recognising what they were. As Bella stepped through the door and started descending down the stairs she could have sworn that it sounded like someone crying._

"_Mom? What are you doing down here?" Bella asked as she increased her pace down the stairs. If her mom was crying, Bella needed to be there for her._

_At the moment Bella's foot touched the cold damp floor of the basement the axis of her entire world turned on its side. The air was knocked out of Bella's lungs as she took in the sight in front of her. Renee's slumped body was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, her head fallen backwards unnaturally far, red covering most of her face, eyes staring, unblinking at the ceiling. Dripping red blood was falling to the ground around the chair, pools of blood increasing with each drop._

_Sitting at Renee's feet was a young blond guy Bella barely knew. Riley Biers was relatively new to town, he was a loner who lived on the edge of town. Bella had only seen him a few times when he'd come over to fix things around the house for Renee. What was he doing to her mom?_

"_No. No. No. No," Riley kept chanting over and over pulling at a thick blood soaked rope that was twisted viciously around Renee's waist. The metallic smell of Renee's life fuel was all Bella could think of._

"_Mom?" Bella stuttered making Riley look up at her for the first time._

"_P-p-please help..." Riley started begging, and then lifted his hand palm up toward Bella. Balanced on his palm was a knife, the silvery blade barely visible through the thick layer of blood. "Please. Bella help...Bella."_

"Bella...Earth to Bella"

Bella shakes her head almost violently bringing herself back to the present. Her hand is resting against the wood of the door leading to her painful past. She looks up to see Rose standing before her.

"You OK there?"

Bella swallows hard, trying to push the painful memory from the year before back down.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Just a little...you know?"

Rose looks between the door and her friend. She realises what Bella must have been remembering. The death of Renee Swan only recently began fading from the memories of this small. She knows she needs to get Bella out of this house.

"Yeah, yeah, don't even sweat it. What do you say we get outa here? Em's waiting in the truck," Rose asks holding her hand out to her friend.

With one last glance at the door, Bella takes her friends offering and escapes out the front door to what hopefully is an escape from reality. As they walk to the idling vehicle, Bella can't help replaying flashes in her head. She thought they had finally put the past behind them. She can only hope that still holds true.

Little does she know how utterly wrong she is. The figure in the woods surrounding the Swan property watches as the two girl's climb into the oversized truck. A cigarette lands on the ground and a boot snuffs it out. The person stands, waits, watches. They think of all the things that have yet to come. All their plans. All the fun to be had. As the euphoria of their most recent kills still floats through their body, they think about how much it will be amplified when its Bella Swan on the receiving end of their revenge.

* * *

Punk A/N-If your still interested in this review! Let us know. The more interest we know people have the faster we wanna write!

Angel A/N- We're not killing anyone if we don't get reviews so click on the lovely review button below and give us some motivation.


	3. Chapter 3

Punk A/N- Well look at that an update. It's been awhile. Been a bit fail on my end with lack of internet. Were currently in the middle of moving across country, so hopefully once things settle down we can get a more regular updating schedule. As always thanks to our wonderful beta and prereaders. And always to my fic wifey, my other half, were not giving up on this!

Angel A/N- To our awesome beta TwiReaderAbi, proof reader PrettyPeens thank you for helping us make this pretty and a huge smooch to RobstenCuteness for the awesome banner! CherylSab thank you for all the pimping and your continued loving of this fic. Punky baby, I flove you and am so with you on not giving up on this baby, this fic kills (pun intended).

You too those of you who did review, you rock our worlds and thank you to those of you who have alerted and favorited DR.

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to the genius Stephanie Meyer, thanks to one freaking amazing dream she had.**

* * *

CHAPTER 3

**This is the end of your rotten life you mother fucking dope pusher! It was easy for him because he really didn't think it was coming, but it ain't gonna be easy for you cuz you better believe it's coming! – Reese Wilson, Urban Legends**

WED Feb 10th, 2010

Tyler is sitting on his favorite tree stump, in his favorite hiding spot in the woods surrounding the school, rolling his favorite weed. Hydroponically grown Durban Poison.

"Dude, this shit is one hundred percent Sativa, never been hybridized. The THC is higher than the crap you'll find oin the Rez," Tyler says, while rolling a thick blunt like the seasoned druggie he is. "It's not gonna make you feel droopy or sleepy but trust me when I say you'll be smiling from ear to ear for the next four hours at least."

"Oh, I'll definitely be smiling," the killer says, while patiently waiting for Tyler to roll and light the joint.

"Now, Durban Poison notoriously burns your lungs a little but that's just because the Sativa is so high. It tastes a little like licorice and soapy tea," Tyler goes on to describe what to expect knowing that the person with him has never tried this shit before, laughing at how strange the description sounds. "It's gonna hit you very quickly and your peripheral vision is going to get a little blurry as if you're running at blinding speed."

"Stop stalling, dude and light the damn thing." The killer is getting impatient. Class is going to start soon and he really needs his hit. Not a hit of the joint but rather the hit of adrenalin as someone dies at his hands.

"Yeah- yeah, hold your horses, I'm done," Tyler says, bringing the freshly rolled blunt to his lips. He lights it and takes a long drag into his lungs, thinking how strange it is that this person has decided to partake in some chemical recreation.

"Ahhh, that's the shit!" Tyler barely says as he tries to keep the smoke in his lungs as long as possible. Finally, Tyler lets out the thick blue smoke only to raise the joint to his lips again, closing his eyes and dragging some more of the THC filled smoke in.

As Tyler lowers the joint the killer places a clear plastic bag over his head, pulling it tight, making Tyler's features skew. Tyler's muddled brain tries to make sense of what is going on. His reactions are slow but he grabs at the hands pulling the plastic tight over his head. Fear immediately courses through his body along with confusion. He doesn't understand why he's doing this, why is he trying to kill him?

This is it, fuck yeah, the killer thinks as Tyler kicks and grabs at their vice grip hands trying to save himself. Desperation is running through Tyler's entire being as his lungs start protesting the lack of fresh, oxygenated air. He can feel himself slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

"Die, you motherfucking dope pusher!" The killer whispers aggressively, pulling the plastic taunt.

The killer's head snaps up as he hears movement coming towards them. Someone is coming, so he won't be able to savor this kill. Breaking a thick branch from the tree next to them, the killer plunges its jagged edge into Tyler's throat, blood spurting from his new wound as the killer manages to hit the main artery.

The thick metallic smelling blood seeps out of his wound and down Tyler's body as his fighting dies down and his eyes glaze over. Death has come to Forks again.

~DR~

Edward is sitting on a tree stump at the back of the school having a cigarette before another day of tedious stares and whispers is to begin. It has been almost two weeks since he found the bodies and they had yet to let up even remotely. He has just started to realize this was life in a small town. News of this nature would carry on for a while since nothing else remotely interesting ever happened here. He had yet to return to his normal running grounds in La Push. He was beginning to notice the changes in himself since he no longer had the solitary thinking time that running on a daily basis gave himpeace of a daily morning run. The toe of his boot digs into a small dirt patch as he takes another pull off his cigarette. He watches as the random stream of his fellow classmates wander around before class.

One breaks off from the pack and makes his way across the small open field separating the line of trees and the school. He recognizes Ben Cheney just as he slips through the trees down the line from Edward. He figures he must be heading to the spot known to the pot-heads of the school for its seclusion.

Edward tilts his head to the sky and looks at the clouds hanging over him. He thinks about how much he misses the sun. For just a second he allows himself to think about his old home. The sun shining, the busyness of the town streets, the smell of hotdogs filling Wrigley Field. His lips wrap around the filter of his cigarette as he takes another deep breath. His eyes fall close as he clears his mind and thinks of nothing but the smoke in his lungs. He lets the smoke blow out slowly. His eyes pop open at the sound of rustling in the trees. Ben pops out of the tree line stumbling backwards. Edward watches as he takes off running back across the field towards the school.

With one last look to where Ben had emerged from the trees the bell rings on the school grounds. Edward drops the cigarette to the dirt patch before him and stubs it out with his boot. He picks up his backpack and slings it over his shoulder as he stands to head to his first class.

~DR~

"So what are you guy's doing for VD?" Alice is literally bouncing out of her seat. Her group of friends surrounds her at their usual table in the cafeteria. The hustle and bustle of all the other students surrounds them as they move about during lunch hour. More then one eyebrow around the table raises in question to Alice's inquiry. Emmett decides to break the silence and be the one to speak up.

Trying to hold in his snickers he speaks up, "Umm Alice?" A snicker slips past his lips before he's able to continue. Alice's head cocks to the side completely confused as to why those around her are all holding in laughter.

"VD Alice? Wh-hat are w-we doing?" He has a hard time getting the question out through his laughter. His head shakes as he tries tryingHis head shakes to figure out what his pixie friend is speaking about. It takes a few moments but it all clicks in Alice's head. She shakes her head at the immaturity of her friends.

Her eyes roll and her shoulders slightly slump as she continues. "NO! Valentine's Day! What is everyone doing for Valentine's day?"

Everyone calms at the realization of what Alice is truly talking about. Each couple looks at one another with an unsure look before Alice continues. "So I was thinking since it's on a Sunday, us girls could have a pamper day on Saturday. What do you think?" Alice bites her lip trying to show her nervousness. She doesn't normally ask them to do things, its normally the other way around. She's truly hoping they will agree. Both Bella and Rose agree to meet up at Rose's Saturday night and have a girls night. Just as they're about to continue with their conversation Jacob appears at the table, sliding into the empty chair next to his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek.

He bumps fist with the guys, "So what's the conversation?"

Alice immediately jumps in to answer. "We were just talking about Valentine's day plans."

Jacob turns his attention to Bella. "Yeah babe, about that. I made a reservation for us so I figure I can pick you up about five?"

The sounds of the cafeteria are just a murmur of voices in Bella's head. When she turned to look at Jacob as he sat down she caught sight of Edward Cullen sitting across the cafeteria. He sit's hunched over with his forearms on the table in front of him. What shocks Bella is that he appears to be staring directly at her. When she looked at him his stare didn't waver. By the look on his face he appears pained. She wonders what he was thinking. Why is he staring at her. She feels bad looking at him, noticing that he is sitting at a table all alone. She knows he isn't exactly popular but she figured someone would be sitting with him.

Jacob realizes as he talks, that his girlfriend's eyes seemed to have glaze over. He keeps talking but can see she isn't listening to a thing he's saying. He slowly turns to follow what her eyes are staring at. His fist clench and his jaw tightens as he sees what she's staring at. Edward Cullen. Their eyes are locked and Jacob has to stop the growl in his chest from erupting out loud. Jacob knows he has to calm down and not allow anyone, let alone Bella, see his reaction. He looseness his jaw muscle's and tries to relax. He turns to Edward again and shoots him a hard look. When he realizes that neither are going to stop staring at one another Jacob can't take it any longer.

His hand wraps around her wrist and it finally pulls Bella from her trance. Bella's head snaps up and after realizing that she hasn't heard a word Jacob has said, she immediately feels bad. It takes her a moment to realize he wasn't just trying to get her attention but is actually trying to pull her up from her seat.

"What's going on? Where are we going?" Bella looks at Jacob confused by the look in his eye.

Jacob tries to control his feelings as he responds. "We are leaving, Isabella."

The shock and confusion at Jacob's use her full name leaves Bella bewildered long enough for him to get the advantage. He swiftly pulls her along behind him as they walk directly past the table Edward sits at. Edward watches the scene in front of him with apprehension. He knows the type of person Jacob Black is and the way he is treating Bella makes him want to jump up and stop them from leaving. As Jacob's eyes never leave him until they have passed, Edward stays sitting. He knows he won't do anything. Him sStanding up would be fruitless and more then likely end up with Jacob's crew of friends cornering him in the locker room after gym. Instead he holds his breath as his fingers grip the table until he sees them pass through the cafeteria door in his peripheral vision.

When his gaze finally rises he finds his eyes locking with Alice Brandon, still sitting at the table Jacob and Bella just vacated. Her hard unwavering look unnerves him. He gathers the rest of his measly lunch and tosses it in the nearest trash can before ducking his head and escaping out of the cafeteria.

~DR~

Chief Swan stands in the basement of the Fork's Community hospital. The autopsy of Tyler Crowley is set to start.

"Chief," Dr. Gerandy acknowledges as he enters the room. "Due to the fact that we don't have a coroner in Forks, I've done the autopsy."

"We've never had a need for a coroner, doc," Charlie says, running his hand over his mustache. "I'm sure you know what you're doing."

"It's been a while but it's like riding a bicycle. Done one, done them all," The doctor laughs humorlessly.

"So what did you find doc?" Charlie asks, eager for confirmation of what he already suspects.

Doctor Gerandy removes a tape recorder for the pocket of his overcoat and places it on the steel table next to Tyler's body before pressing the record button.

"We have a sixteen year old male, black hair of medium length, brown eyes. No distinguishing birthmarks have been noted," Dr. Gerandy says into the recording device.

"I've kept to an external post mortem examinationexamanation as the cause of death can be confirmed as a puncture to the carotid artery of the neck. Cause of death was loss of blood." The doctor says pointing out the wound on Tyler's neck and continues, "When he was brought in I noted that a plastic bag was still wrapped around his head indicating that the killer had originally intended on suffocating the victim."

"Yeah, we think Ben Cheney may have interrupted them."

"A note was lodged into the socket of his eye using the same branch that perforated his artery," Doctor Gerandy lifts an evidence bag with the note inside it to show Charlie. "I sent samples of our victims hair and nails for analysis but on inspection it doesn't look like the victim was able to scratch his attacker as no fibreer, skin or hair was found.

"Toxicology has confirmed that high levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol was found in his blood stream as well as traces on his lips and nose, indicating that the victim had been smoking cannabis at the time of his death. When the plastic bad was removed from his head, I could still smell the narcotic."

"Yeah," Charlie sighs. "I thought as much. That explains why Tyler was in the forest out of view from the rest of the school."

"No foreign objects were found in or on the body except for a few off leaves." Dr. Gerandy looks up at Charlie and says,"I can confirm that Tyler Crowley's death is as a result of a homicide, Chief."

"No doubt about it, doc," Charlie says as he turns to leave. "You'll call me if you find anything else?"

"Of course, Chief," Dr. Gerandy confirms and hesitates a few seconds before saying. "There have been three murders now Charlie, It's more that Forks has seen in my entire lifetime."

"I know, doc, I know."

~DR~

Charlie returns to the Fork's police station after leaving the morgue. He's set to interview Ben Cheney about discovering the body but first he wants to sit down with Seth, his deputy, and discuss the note found with the body. As much as he would like to believe that these were just unfortunate killings he now has to go with conclusion that his small town may have something more on its hands.

Charlie navigates his way through the small collection of news reporters, spouting the usual no comment answer as the questions are thrown at him. Once inside he finds Seth and ushers him into his office.

"What are we thinkin' Chief?" Seth immediately asks as he sits in the worn leather chair across from Charlie's desk. Charlie's eyes glance down to his desk that holds a plastic evidence bag on top of piles of papers. The bag contains the note found on Tyler's body this morning. The words "STICKS AND STONES" boldly written across it.

The fingers of Charlie's right hand find his temple and begin rubbing trying to relieve his tension. "I don't know any more Seth. Tyler's parent's were the third parents of deceased teenagers I've had to notify in two weeks. Something I never thought I would have to do when I became chief of police years ago."

"And the notes?" Seth's head nods to the plastic bag on Charlie's desk.

"Well, I have to say I don't think were dealing with random acts any more."

Seth's head bobs in agreement before Charlie continues. "We will'll go interview this Ben kid and see what help he can offer. In the mean time, we stay on the path were on. No telling the press anything for the time being. I don't want my town in an uproar if we can help it. We just need to get out there and catch the son of a bitch who's done this."

Seth nod's his head in agreement once agiaain. Charlie and him both stand and head down the narrow hallway to the only interview room of the small police station.

Seth pushes open the door of the interview room and lets Charlie pass by before shutting it soundly behind them. Ben's head snaps up from his perch on the unforgiving plastic chair he has sat on for the past hour. He can't stop his body from rocking back and forth. Ever since he pushed through the trees expecting to hook up with Tyler for their morning smoke and instead found his limp body covered in blood, he hasn't been able to stop the shudders running through his body.

"How you doing Ben?" Charlie asks, looking sympathetically at the teenager before him. He sets the file in his hand down on the table before taking a seat across the tablefrom him. He reaches over and clicks the red record button on the tape recorder before his attention returns to Ben's grim face.

"Okay, here's how this is going to work. I want you to tell me everything you can remember from this morning Ben. From the time you got to the school till you found Tyler's body. Can you do that Ben?"

Ben nods his head a few times letting Charlie know he heard him. Charlie nods to Seth to begin taking notes on the pad he brought with him.. Ben takes a deep breath and starts into the recap of his morning. He tells Charlie and Seth about how he was running late when he got to school. Just as he parked his car Tyler sent him a text to let him know he was in the spot.

"The spot?" Charlie asks for clarity.

"Umm yeah, it's the flattened out spot in the trees where Tyler was found. We go out there to-" Ben gulps down the sudden knot in his throat as he realizes he's about to admit to the Chief of Police about his extra curricular activities.

"Hey, Ben,. I'm not here to bust you. We just want to know what happened?" Charlie reassures the teenager before him as he realizes what he's about to say.

Ben nod's again. "Well it's where we go to smoke. No one can see us there."

Charlie nod's his understanding as Seth makes notes on his pad.

"So I ran across the field and as I got to the trees I saw him. H-he was already de-dead," Ben gasps for breath as his mind is assaulted with the vision of Tyler's lifeless body.

"Okay, Ben. Did you touch anything while you were there?" Charlie asks.

"No. No,. I saw him and booked it out of there."

Charlie figures that's probably all he will be getting out of the young man today so he decides to let him go.

"Okay Ben thank you for that. If we have any more questions we will be in contact. I believe your parents are here to pick you up."

The group stands and begin's to exit the room. Just as Ben reaches the end of the hallway leading to the front of the station he remember's something.

"Hey, Chief Swan?"

Charlie turns and raises and eyebrow in question.

"I just remembered something. As I was walking up to the trees I remember seeing someone standing a few feet away."

"Who?"

"Edward Cullen, sir. I remember seeing him just standing there. Watching."

A thought rushes through the Chiefs mind. Not Cullen. Anyone but Cullen. His lips tighten into a grim line as he nods to Ben. "Thanks Ben, we'll be in touch."

Charlie turns back to Seth. "Seth, I'll be in my office. Do me a favor and get Carlisle Cullen on the phone."

~DR~

Charlie sit's at a back booth of the diner hunched over a rapidly cooling cup of coffee. His toes tap repeatedly on the ground trying to put his mind elsewhere. The door to the diner chimes alerting him to entrance of Carlisle Cullen.

Carlisle breezes to the booth nodding his hello to the waitress behind the counter. He removes his jacket before sliding in across from the Chief.

"Chief Swan." He nods his greeting. "Sorry I'm late. I was at the prison visiting with-"

Charlie raises him palm to halt Carlisle in the middle of his sentence.

"Save it. I'm not here about that. I'm here about your other boy."

"Edward?" Carlisle is shocked. Edward has been so good. What kind of trouble could he be in to warrant them meeting like this?

"Yeah. Edward."

"Is he in trouble, Charlie?"

Charlie leans across the table, getting closer to the doctor in order to speak lower.

"Well, what do you call being at the scene of three murders in the past two weeks Carlisle? Just another day?" he hisses out.

Before Carlisle can respond Charlie continues.

"Now, I've given your family the benefit of the doubt ever since you came here. I may not agree with your reasons for being here but I can't stand in your way. All I can say is something is going on in this town and your son is connected to it somehow."

Carlisle closes his mouth at Charlie's words. He has no response.

"All I'm saying is I'm going to be keeping an eye on that boy. If he so much as drives with out a seatbelt, I'm bringing him in."

Carlisle nods his head in response.

"You have a good day now." With that Charlie stands, waving goodbye to the waitress behind the counter as he exits the diner.

Carlisle sits stunned in the booth. He figured Edward had been so careful lately. Carlisle knows he's gotta tell him to keep under the radar for a bit or he is going to ruin their very reason for being here.

* * *

Punk- Are you still with us? If so please don't hesitate to let us know exactly what you think! And rec us out we LOVE seeing new readers!

Angel- I kill better if reviews tell me to so hit the little review button!


	4. Chapter 4

Punk A/N-Thank you for sticking with us the response has just gotten better and better every chapter. As always thank you to all the usual suspects. Thanks for holding on as things calm for the each of us and we are able to write more and more. We wouldn't be here without your guys

Angel A/N- To our awesome betas TwiReaderAbi and MissWinkles, our proof reader PrettyPeens. Big huge bloody thank you to those of you who did review, you rock our worlds and thank you to those of you who have alerted and favorited DR.

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to the genius Stephanie Meyer, as does the genius of Scream to his holy highness Wes Craven.**

* * *

CHAPTER 4

_"Whatever you need to do, you do it. There is no wrong. If someone needs to be killed, you kill 'em. That's the way" – Baby Firefly, House of 1000 corpses_

**Thursday February 11th**

Edward sits in the driver side of his van staring at the front of Forks High. All of his fellow students stand around in groups. Talking. Gossiping. He knows what the subject probably is. He sat with his parents last night in the living room of their home and watched the evening news. He saw the report of Tyler Crowley's death. The unease he feels in his gut, knowing he may have been just feet away while Tyler was being killed, is eating away at him. He thinks about how easy it would be to just start the ignition and drive away from this small town. He has to remind himself over and over about the reason they're here. Until they figure out a solution he knows he can't go anywhere. So instead, he opens up the creaky door and makes his way into the school.

Eric Yorkie and Mike Newton are standing out front of the school talking about Tyler with a few other guys. Mike notices Edward trying to go unnoticed as he hurries up the walkway. He taps Eric on the shoulder and nods his head to look behind him. Eric spins around to see what Mike is pointing at and a grin splits across his face when he spots Edward. _Time for some fun,_ he thinks.

"Hey freak! Why you in such a hurry?" He steps out just enough to block Edward's path. Edward has to use his quick reflexes to stop himself from running right into Eric's chest. He keeps his eyes to the ground and doesn't give in to the need to look him in the eye. Eric pushes the tips of his fingers harshly into Edward's shoulder.

Edward still doesn't react to him. "I said, why you in such a hurry, freak?" The arm Edward is using to hold up his binder raises up just as Eric goes to shove him once again.

Behind them Bella walks out of the administration office just in time to see a commotion on the front walkway leading up to the school. Eric pushes on Edward, causing the binder in his hand to hit his mouth before flying to the side, papers fluttering all over the walkway. Eric and Mike laugh as Edward bends down to pick up the papers he lost, before they get bored and walk away.

Bella waits until they have gotten far enough away before walking over to Edward and bending down to help him. "Don't let them get to you, they're just jerks."

Edward glances up briefly. "Yeah, they're assholes." Edward agrees. "Thanks but I don't need your pity."

"Hey, I was just trying to help." Bella responds a little putout by his reaction.

Edward straightens up as the last paper goes haphazardly back into his folder. Bella sees the blood forming on his lip from where his folder made contact.

"Hey, your lip is bleeding. Here." She swings her backpack around to her hip, and digs into the front pack, coming out with a small pack of tissues. She pulls one out and hands it to Edward.

Edward resists the urge to pull a typical male move and simply wipe his lip with the back of his hand. He gratefully takes the tissue from Bella.

As their fingers graze Bella feels a spark tingle up her arm. She simply chalks it up to static electricity as Edward yanks his hand back quickly. She eyes him as he wipes at his lip. She can't remember a time she has actually exchanged more than two sentences with him. It is definitely the first time she has really looked at him. Something about him pulls at memories in her mind.

"I know you just moved here but I gotta ask, do I know you from somewhere else? I mean, you just seem so familiar to me..." She drifts off trying to remember where she may have seen him before. Something tells her she knows his face from somewhere other than school.

Edward's eyes widen at Bella's words. He looks down at the ground trying to come up with an excuse or reason for her. He can't. He is saved by the bell ringing, signaling the need to get to class.

"Um nah, I don't know where you would know me from. I gotta go. Thanks for the tissue," he mumbles before taking off at a sprint to his first class.

Bella watches his retreating form, knowing she was on to something. She recognized him, from where, she doesn't know. She shakes her head as Alice and Rose descend on her, and as she heads off to her first class, she vows to figure out the strangeness of Edward Cullen.

~DR~

The sounds of excited male chatter in the boys locker room is just starting to die down as the boy's basketball team heads out to the gym for practice.

"Fuck!" Eric growls as he digs through his locker.

"Dude, seriously. Come on let's go." Mike tries to rush Eric out, he knows coach will make who ever is late to practice run extra laps. "I got a date in the back seat of my car with Jessica and I'm not missing that shit because of your ass."

"I can't find my other fucking shoe dude. Just go. I don't want Banner all over your ass too. I'll get there as soon as I find it."

Mike slaps Eric on his shoulder as he jogs out of the locker room. Eric keeps digging until his entire locker is nearly empty.

"Ahh- ha!"

He comes up victorious at the top of his locker where his missing shoe lies.

"What the fuck is it doing up there?" he mumbles to himself. He doesn't have time to think about it as he sees the clock and realizes he is most definitely late for practice. He props his leg up on the bench lacing it up and runs to join the rest of the team for practice.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Yorkie," Couch Banner says as Eric comes running onto the court.

"Sorry, Mr. Banner. I couldn't find my shoe," Eric says, knowing that his excuse is not going to make a difference to Coach Banner.

"Save your excuses," Mr. Banner informs Eric. "Add twenty sprints after we've finished here."

"Oh come on!" Eric exclaims in a typical teenage anguish.

"Make that thirty," Banner says looking him directly in the eye, waiting for Eric to challenge his decision.

By the time Eric is able to finish the thirty sprints, the rest of the team have already left. Eric showers and dresses in the silence of the locker room, cursing Banner under his breath for being such a hard ass. The quiet is suddenly broken by the telltale moans of a girl in the throes of passion. Eric's perverted ears immediately perk up.

"Oh shit...fuck me...oh yes!"

Eric moves off the bench when he realizes the heavy panting is coming from the vents that lead down into the basement of the school. He stands near them and listens for a few moments, before his teenage hormones override the logic side of his brain.

"I gotta see this," he whispers to himself as he reaches the door in the back of the locker room leading down into the basement. He's hoping he can catch whoever it is in the act. He holds his breath as he twists the door knob slowly and quietly pulls the door open. The light of the locker room spills out onto the dimly lit steps of the basement. He pauses his movements to see if he has been detected. When the moaning from the girl continues, he steps onto the first step softly and begins the descent down the stairs.

Eric can't help but wonder who would be tapping whose ass down here as he reaches the landing at the bottom. He stands still, trying to determine where the moaning is coming from. The entire basement that spans the majority of the underside of the school, is covered in shadows. Through the thick silence surrounding him he hears the girls moaning increase as she reaches the pinnacle of her climax. He moves towards the sound as silently and as quickly as possible because he doesn't want to miss the free show.

A few steps into the deep recesses of the basement the lights suddenly go out, leaving Eric bathed in blackness and blind as a bat. He turns back to where he thinks the stairs are, slowly, gingerly trying to make his way back to light. He realizes that he doesn't hear the girl anymore, but instead, thinks he hears footsteps follow his own.

A few steps further, Eric is startled by the sound of material flapping in the air as someone or something runs past him. He swallows thickly as his heart rate increases. He reaches his hand out and asks, "Who's there?"

Again, the sound of material rushes past Eric, the movement of air touches his goose pimpled covered skin.

"Who the fuck is there?"

Eric is scared, and that is exactly what the killer wants. The killer can smell his fear in the air as they toy with their prey.

As Eric makes out the faint glow of light at the end of the room, he takes a step forward. But, before he can move again searing pain shoots through his leg as a flaming sharp blade cuts through his Achilles tendon. Eric crumbles to the ground screaming in pain, gripping his leg, panic rushing through his veins. He tries to stand up again in an attempt to escape, but his tendon is severed making it impossible to stand.

He knows that he must get out of there. He knows that his life is in danger and the killer knows that they are going to enjoy this kill just as much as every other kill. Eric begins to slowly crawl towards the light, towards salvation, towards life. The killer slowly follows him, inhaling the air around them, savoring the metallic smell of his blood, dripping red from his wound.

The killer allows Eric to climb up a few stairs, giving him hope, toying with him before grabbing onto his injured ankle, yanking him harshly down a few steps, his head hitting a few stairs in the process.

"Argh!" Eric cries in agony, rolling over onto his back as he tries to see who is doing this to him. What he finds both confuses and scares him so much so that he is at a loss for words. He is so petrified that he can't even find the power to scream. The look on his face is enough to satisfy the killer's morbid desire. Eric's fear is his own personal brand of heroin.

What Eric sees before him appears to be a man with a painted white face, blue eyeshadow and black lips staring at him. An evil murderous clown looks down at Eric, a smile pulling at the corners of his black lips, showing black tinged teeth. Eric sees the killer raise a big axe above their head and just before they bring it crashing down into Eric's body, the killer says, ""Boo!"

The force of the sharp blade of the axe as it lodges itself in Eric's chest vibrates through the killer's arms. The thrill of it sends a jolt of euphoria shivering through their body. He pulls it out again, splattering blood across the roof and the walls before bringing it down forcefully, the sound of breaking ribs like music to their ears. Eric doesn't shout, nor does he cry. The only sound that can be heard is his final breath as it gurgles through the blood that has pooled in his throat.

~DR~

Edward snuffs out the last of his cigarette on the ground. He looks all around him as he reaches for the hidden door behind the gym. School ended hours ago and Edward doesn't want to be seen going in. His climbs the small staircase leading down into the basement of the school.

When they first moved to Fork's Edward found his way into the basement, looking for a place to hide. It didn't take him long to find the hidden room with the old dusty piano. Ever since then, he has come down here when he needed to escape. Lately, that had been a lot more often. He could almost find his way to the room with his eyes closed. Two stairscases and three doors past the entrance he came through.

Edward hums a tune out loud that he's been working on as he walks. He's almost around the last corner and to the last staircase when he hears what sounds like someone running up the stairs and a door slamming shut. Edward reaches out to where he knows a light switch is and flips it up and down.

Nothing.

He reaches into his pocket and flips open his Zippo lighter, holds it out in front of him. He tries to see in the dim light that lighter provides. He slowly steps forward until his foot runs into something. Looking down his stomach drops. Laying across the stairs with an axe lodged in his chest is Eric Yorkie.

Edward's breathing comes out in gasps. "No, no, no, no," he chants to himself.

He finally snaps back to reality and bounds up the steps past Eric's body, into the boy's locker room. He runs out of the locker room, to the other side of the gym into Coach Banner's office.

The doorway is open as the coach sits at his desk going over practice plays. Edward slides in the doorway, bending over, gasping for air.

"Body...stairs...dead...axe," he gasps out to the coach while pointing in the direction he has just come from.

~DR~

Charlie Swan stands in the boy's locker room of Forks High School. The stale smell of sweat and teenage boy lingers around him. He pulls the small bottle of pain relievers out of his pocket, spilling two into his hand and tossing them back dry. He rubs at his temples, an act that seems to be a constant thing lately. He watches as the two paramedics carry the sheet covered stretcher past him. Seth follows behind, stopping as he reaches Charlie's side.

Charlie's eyes close. "What do we have here, Seth?" The exasperation in Charlie's voice is clearly evident.

"No bag for yah this time."

Charlie's rubbing stops as his eyes pop open. His eyebrow raises and his look tells Seth to continue.

"What do you mean?"

"This way." Seth nods to the open basement door and starts down the stairs.

As Charlie reaches the bottom of the steps, he watches the crime scene investigators he brought in from Port Angeles taking pictures and doing whatever it is they do. He hopes the decision to bring them in nets good results considering Forks PD's inability to deal with this situation. As he takes in the entire room he sees what is different this time. Instead of a note, the message is scrawled across the basement floor, in what looks and smells like blood.

"WILL BREAK YOUR BONES"

"Chief?" Seth says, breaking Charlie's thoughts.

"Yes, Seth," he replies, turning away from the bloody message.

"It's homecoming this weekend."

"Yeah, I know," Charlie acknowledges. "Guess we're not going to be very popular then."

"Why's that?" Seth asks, looking at Charlie, confused at his statement.

"We're going to have to cancel homecoming, Seth."

"Yeah, we're definitely not going to be winning a popularity contest," Seth sighs knowing how important homecoming is to this small town. Parents and students aren't going to be happy. Homecoming is the social event of the year, bringing the whole town to a halt as everyone gets involved.

"Who found the body?" Charlie asks Seth as he stands up from his position near the bloody message.

"Uhm..uh," Seth stutters looking a little lost for words.

"Spit it out, Seth!"

"Edward Masen."

"Fuck!" Charlie exclaims at Seth's confirmation. "What was he doing here so late?"

"Apparently there's a piano in the basement that he's been playing or something," Seth says.

"Where is he now?" Charlie asks, looking around.

"I sent him home Chief."

"Well, do me a favor Seth, bring him into the station for questioning. Something is out of place here and I'm going to find out what."

~DR~

It's the third day in a row that police cars and reporters have congregated around Forks High School. Bella looks at all the commotion as reporters try to jossle each other for the best shot as police investigators exit the basement. She walks towards her truck wanting to escape the crowds.

As she makes her way through the groups of students, she can't help but overhear the whispers of accusation.

"I heard that the police know it's Edward Masen," Jessica Stanley whispers. "That's why he's in a police holding cell."

"After how Tyler and Eric treated him," Lauren replies. "He probably just snapped."

Bella keeps her focus on her truck, trying to ignore them as much as possible.

"Apparently, they found him with blood all over his hands when Sam and Emily were killed."

"You know, he's always made me feel uncomfortable hanging around all on his own."

Bella reaches her car, jumps in and slams the door closed as quickly as possible. She doesn't want to hear their accusations. Bella doesn't know how, but she knows that Edward Masen isn't capable of murder. Edward isn't a monster.

"Whatever is happening in Forks, whoever is killing off students, is one grade A class of crazy," Bella thinks to herself. She can't help but feel a chill running up her spine at the thought that this is only the beginning.

* * *

Punk end note- *peeks out from behind couch* still with us? Press that little button and let us know what you think. I'm LOVING hearing everyones theories on who-dun-it...till next time...

Angel end note- Hmmmm who do you think is doing it? Could Edward be doing this? Hit review and share your theories.


	5. Chapter 5

Punk A/N-OH SNAP! Look at that an update! Thanks to all the regulars and to the special people who have the guts to review you rock our world!

Angel A/N- A super huge thank you and inappropriate groping to our awesome betas TwiReaderAbi and MissWinkles, our proof reader PrettyPeens. Big huge bloody thank you to those of you who did review, you rock our worlds and thank you to those of you who have alerted and favorited DR. And a special very gentle gropey thank you to my wifey Punkfox for sticking with me even if it takes an aeon for me to finish a chapter.

**_Also just a reminder that this fic contains themes of extreme violence and sex so if you're not 18 please DO NOT read._**

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to the genius Stephanie Meyer, as does the genius of Scream to his holy highness Wes Craven.**

* * *

CHAPTER 5

_"Now Sid, don't you blame the movies, movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!"- Billy Loomis, Scream_

**Fri Feb 12th**

The principal's voice crackles through the scratching over head system as students are settling into the lunch hour.

"Attention students. It is with great displeasure that I must announce the cancellation of this year's homecoming due to recent events. Refunds can be obtained by-"

The rest of the principal's message is drowned out by the collective groan that spreads throughout the cafeteria.

"I cannot believe home coming is being cancelled. This was, like, our last one," Rose groans.

"Oh Rose, you're just mad because this ruins yours and Emmett's record of being king and queen at every dance since you entered this school," Jacob joked.

Emmett rolls his eyes as he chucks a fry from his plate in Jacob's direction. "Come here baby." He uses his sweet voice as he tucks Rose into the nook of his shoulder.

"Hey, I have an idea! What if we all get together and have a party-slash-bonfire down at La Push?" Alice's voice is radiating excitement at the idea.

"Ali, baby, do you think that's a good idea? I mean Sam? Emily? You know?" Jasper nods his head slightly in Jacob's direction. He is always up for a party but he doesn't know how well it would be received on Jacob's end to be partying on the beach that his friends had died on.

"Jake, you don't mind right?" Alice nervously asks.

Jacob looks down into his girlfriend's eyes for a moment, to make sure she looked okay with it and agrees. "Nah, it's cool, it will be fun. You do your thing Alice, make it happen."

Alice immediately gets into party mode. She skilfully chooses the precise guys and girls who will aide in spreading the word. By the end of the lunch hour half the school is talking about the bonfire.

~DR~

"Come on, no one can see us here." Mike Newton attempts to sweet talk his way right into Jessica Stanley's pants as he tugs her behind him. Normally it doesn't take as much of an effort as it is taking right now.

"But, Mike, isn't it weird? Like, Sam and Emily died on this beach, probably doing this exact same thing." Jessica is all for getting naked and getting hers, it's just that the location Mike is walking to gives her the willies.

It takes Mike a moment but he realises why she is so trepidatious and he pulls out the big guns. He isn't going back to the bonfire without getting off. He leans back on a rock tugging Jessica around to stand in front of him. He brushes his knuckles down her cheek before cupping it gently in his hand. As much as it pains him, he gives her the sweetest look his eyes can manage. He knows he could go back to the bonfire and grab any female there and get off immediately, no questions asked, but all he wants is to get his dick sucked and be done. When it came to oral performance, Jessica was a pro.

He lowers his voice as he pulls her closer so he can whisper in her ear, "Hey baby, it's just you and me out here."

As he takes her earlobe into his mouth and nibbles on it she melts against him, letting out an annoying giggle that makes Mike cringe. He doesn't show it though as he knows he has her.

Jessica pulls back from Mike's arms forgetting all about where they are. Her hands reach for his belt buckle and begin tugging on it. As she drops to her knees Mike's hands immediately seek purchase in her hair. He has been rock hard for the past twenty minutes. He's ready to get off and get back to drinking with the guys at the bonfire.

Mike shivers slightly as his erection meets the cool night air. He grabs her chin and smacks his cock against her bottom lip a few times. For no reason other than his own amusement. Jessica tilts her head and flips her tongue out to lick him from base to tip. As her hot mouth engulfs the head Mike tries to hold in the grunt threatening to escape, alerting others to where they are, which would in turn destroy their secret rendezvous before he blew his load.

Rather than risk it, Mike decides to speed things along. He brushes his thumbs across the apples of her cheeks as he cups the sides of Jessica's head drawing her attention to his eyes. He gently thrusts into her mouth until he feels the head of his dick hit the back of her throat. It takes her a moment to recover but, but she goes to work doing what she does best.

Jessica bobs and slurps her way up and down Mike's hardness, sucking and blowing, sucking and blowing. She knows that while he never wants anything more from her, he always comes to her for this, and only her. She is the one to do this for him. She gives him something no one else can. So even when Mike holds her head and stills her movements as he thrusts back and forth in her mouth, she knows this is where her power lies with him.

Mike grunts a few more times. He holds her head as he spills down her throat and Jessica swallows. Jessica releases him, wiping at the corners of her mouth with the tips of her fingers. As she rises up she tries to kiss him in an attempt to continue what they have started, hoping for once she could get hers also. Mike buckles his pants back up and quickly plants a kiss to her cheek.

"Great as always, Jess. We better get back."

Even in Jessica's dim-witted brain she knows it's not right, but instead of speaking out she beats back the desire tugging at her body and her heart. Mike swings his arm around her shoulders and leads her to the quickly multiplying groups surrounding the raging bonfire.

~DR~

Bella pulls her rumbling beast of a truck into the dirt patch that serves as a parking lot to the beaches of La Push. There are already quite a few cars in the lot. Charlie had held her back at the house making sure she had a fresh canister of mace in her purse. He was nervous about her coming to the bonfire tonight, but after promising that she wouldn't drink and would text him every hour, he let her out of the house.

Bella tucks her keys into the pocket of her jacket before she zips it up. She stands at the edge of the beach looking between all the people, trying to spot her friends. She finally catches a glimpse of Emmett and Rose sitting on some rocks next to one of the smaller fires. Bella carefully makes her way down the short but rocky path. Rose looks up just as Bella nears.

"Hey B, you're late!" she comments, as Bella leans in to give a hug in hello.

"Yeah, I know. You know Charlie." Rose understands exactly what Bella is saying in so little words. Regardless of his position as Chief of Police, Charlie Swan is the only parent in Forks who actually knows where his child is on a daily basis, if only because of the honesty and trust he had instilled in Bella. Given the situation though, Bella knows his overprotective requests are well founded.

"Oh yeah? What was the promise this time?" Emmett spoke up after hugging Bella himself.

"I had to promise not to drink and to text him every hour." Bella makes a spot for herself next to Rose on the rocks.

"Well, here's to promises." Emmett hands Bella a beer out of the mini cooler next to him. They clink bottle necks and each drinks a large mouthful.

"Ahhhhhh," Emmett swallows down the sour drink gladly.

Bella looks around and realises Alice is missing from the festivities.

"Where's Ali?" She questions her friends, looking around.

"Oh, you know, probably waiting on Jazz to pick her up or something." Rose rolls her eyes as she answers. As much as Jasper is like a brother to her boyfriend, she just doesn't understand what possesses Alice to stay with him.

"Where's Jacob?" Emmett doesn't mind the company of two of his favourite females, but he needs testosterone to help balance it, or else he knows he will get stuck talking about shoes and periods.

"Had to watch his little sister until his dad gets home. He will be here later."

A few people from school stop by to say hi and beg beer out of Emmett's cooler before Jasper appears by the fire.

"Jas, my man! Beer?" Emmett greets him.

"Yeah sure, thanks," Jasper says with a sigh as he sits next to Emmett and cracks open the beer he hands him.

Bella looks around expecting Alice to be following suit.

"Jasper, where's Alice? didn't she come with you?"

"Nah. I sent her a text to let her know I was running late helping my dad with stuff, and she told me not to bother. Something about her not feeling well," Jasper half heartily answers. He knows Alice is fine, but their heated conversation a short time ago has him worried. She's holding a grudge. For being such a small dainty thing the woman sure knows how to make him feel bad.

Bella flips her phone open to see she has a text message. Sure enough it's from Alice, letting her know she won't be coming as she wasn't feeling well. She sends a quick message letting her know to call her if she needs anything and returns her attention to her friends.

A few more people join their group around the fire. Of course the number one topic on everyone's tongues is the deaths around town. They are shocked about what has been happening, but at the same time, in typical teenager fashion, they choose to make light of it and somehow the topic morphs into urban legends and ghost stories.

Jacob appears just as Mike starts telling some of his favorite urban legends.

"Hey babe. Sorry, Billy was late coming home again." Jacob bends down to kiss his girlfriend.

Bella is very much aware of the strained relationship Jacob has had with his father ever since his mom died, so she decides to not question him about it.

"It's okay, glad you're here now and that's all that matters." Bella snuggles into Jacob's side as they turn their attention back to Mike.

"Okay, so my all time favorite is the Coke and Pop Rocks one," Mike excitedly tells the group surrounding the fire. A few look at him questioningly and he explains further. "Okay, remember the Mikey dude from that cereal commercial?" Everyone nods. "Okay, well he ate Pop Rocks and soda, and the reaction in his stomach made it explode or some shit and he died."

The group looks at him like he's lost his mind. A few even laugh.

"I know, I know. It's a funny one. I've just always liked it."

Jessica decides to speak up, adding her two cents worth. "I have one. It happened to my cousin's best friend. She swore by it. If you combine soda and painkillers it will make you extremely horny." The certainty with which Jessica says this makes most members of the group bite their tongues.

"Really Jess?" Jasper is the only one who seems to be able to find the words to speak.

"Yeah, seriously. She was, like, really horny all the time, so she used to give it to her boyfriend constantly so he was always ready to go." She finishes her little speech with a nod.

The females in the group just stare slack jawed at her. All the guys seem to be thinking the same thing. Jasper, once again, is the only one to speak, his head cocked to the side resting in the palm of his hand.

"Um ,Jess? Did you ever think that maybe she's just...you know?"

Jessica looks at him confused. "Just what?"

"Horny?" Jacob speaks up between laughing himself.

Jessica looks around at the group laughing at her. "Well, that's what she said!" With the finality of her words she takes a large gulp of the red cup in her hand just as everyone breaks out in laughter.

"Okay, that's great." Emmett pouts his lips and bobs his head in sympathy to Jessica dim mentality, as they all calm down. "But, back to the real stuff. What about..." Emmett trails off as he thinks. His fingers snap as the metaphorical light bulb goes off. "Apples and razorblades." He looks around the group. "You've all heard it right? Crazy guy sticks razorblades in apples and passes them out on Halloween?"

Everyone murmurs their agreement about hearing the legend before.

"Oh, come on Em, that's easy to disprove on logic alone. I mean seriously, kids choosing to take apples on the biggest candy day of the year? Yeah right!" Bella rationalises.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I sure as hell would kick some dude in the nuts if he tried to hand me an apple on Halloween."

The talk turns from Urban Legends to everyone's favorite horror movies. This group of teenagers is nothing if not a bit morbid. Jacob and Bella are each quiet as the conversation flows around them.

"What do you mean the rules?" Rose pipes up. The look of incredulity Jasper throws at her is enough to make even the tough girl visibly back down. "What? I just asked a question!"

"You don't know...the RULES?" Jasper throws a look at Emmett, placing his hand on his chest in mock horror. "Have you not taught this woman anything?"

"Sorry, movie nerd, I'm too busy getting laid," Emmett smart mouths back as he tucks Rose's body closer to his own.

Jasper lets out a huff of breath as he stands up. "There are certain rules one lives by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. I mean, seriously, have I taught you people nothing?"

"Oh yes, movie master, please bestow upon us these rules," Mike teases Jasper who is visibly worked up over the issue.

"First off, you can never have sex." Laughter and crude sexual acts are mimed around the circle. "No, I'm serious, you have sex! You're bound to die. Next, you can never drink or do drugs." Beer bottles are raised and clicked together in a wordless tribute to breaking the rules. "It's the sin factor; it's an extension of rule number one." He says, chugging the rest of his beer. "Third, you can never, ever, EVER, under any circumstances, say 'I'll be right back', 'cause you won't be back."

A chorus of "Yeah rights" and "whatevers" is heard around the circle.

Mike stands. "Hey, I'm gonna take a piss. Anybody want anything while I'm up?" He looks around the circle in question. Everyone says no. "Okay, well, I'll be right baaaaccckkkk," he drags out in a dead monster voice.

Everyone laughs at his blatant disregard for everything Jasper has just said.

"Yeah right, good luck with that. I'll see you in the woods with a chainsaw, fucker." Jasper shakes his head in exasperation as Mike disappears through the crowds to find somewhere to pee.

"Hey Bells." Jacob leans down to talk to Bella alone. "Quil and Embry just got here, I'm gonna go say hey, okay?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be here." Jacob leaves with a kiss to her cheek and Bella watches him maneuver his way through the crowd until she loses sight of him. As her eyes move back to the group around her, she catches something she didn't expect. Edward Cullen is sitting all by himself next to one of the smaller fires along the edge of the mass of people.

Bella looks around noticing the rest of her group has fallen into their own conversations. Before she can over think it her feet carry her half the distance to Edward. Edward's head snaps up as he realises it is no longer just him and the fire. His eyes visibly widen as he takes in who has come to stand by him. He's not sure why she is here or what he should say. Luckily Bella speaks first.

"Hey, is it cool if I sit?" Bella is completely unsure of what to say to Edward. She still finds herself drawn to him and wanting to learn more about him, but after his reaction and running off earlier, she's not sure if he wants anything to do with her.

"Umm...yeah go for it." Edward barely finds the words to answer her. Bella takes a timid seat next to him leaving a small gap between them. As she takes a nervous sip of her beer she notices Edward's hands are empty.

"Hey, you not drinking?" She tries to make conversation.

Edward looks down at his hands that Bella seems to be staring at, chuckling under his breath. "Um, nah. I figured it was better to abstain tonight with being watched and all."

"Watched? Who's watching you? I mean we're all out here doing the same thing," Bella jokes back.

Edward realises that Bella has no clue what he meant by his comment.

"Well, you know with your Dad specifically keeping an eye on me and all?"

Bella's eyes widen as she nearly chokes on the mouthful of beer she was about to swallow. "My dad what?" she whispers in an eerily steady voice.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Edward smirks shaking his head. "Your father, the Chief of this oh-so-wonderful town, had me brought in for questioning today."

Bella's jaw drops in shock as her hand clasps over her mouth. "He didn't!"

"Oh, yeah. I was waiting for the cuffs and everything but they never came."

"Oh. My. God.," she punctuates each word, "I am SO sorry Edward. What the hell did he want?"

"Come on, Bella. This is small town. You've heard the rumors. The new kid just so happens to find multiple dead bodies? Yeah, who do you think they look at?"

"Well...it...ya know." Bella can't find the words to respond to Edward even though she feels the need to make it all better for him.

"Yeah, exactly," he nods, insinuating that Bella was part of the group who thought he had something to do with the killings.

"No, I mean seriously, Edward?" she asks, quick to defend herself. "With all the stuff going on lately, I think people don't know what to think. So they look at you, the new kid that they know nothing about. That's all." She looks down whispering the rest. "I don't think you had anything to do with it."

Bella's eyes rise to make contact with Edward's. They stare at one another silently, letting her words absorb.

"Bells, come here," Rose orders, her voice interrupting their moment, calling to her friend from across the sand. The beckoning shakes them both from their little private bubble.

Bella glances in her direction before looking back and Edward. "I should..."

"Yeah, of course. Wouldn't want people to think you were talking to me." Edward's defensive wall makes his words come out harsher than he means.

Wordlessly, Bella stands and walks away from him. Just before she nears her group she glances back over her shoulder, but it's too late. He has already disappeared.

~DR~

Mike can barely see in the dark of the night as he stumbles through the nearby bushes, into the surrounding forest. The chatter and laughter from the bonfire is slowly becoming softer as he walks away feeling like he's about to piss in his pants.

Hidden and unseen, the killer smiles, knowing that this kill will be easier than anything they have done before, their hatred for Mike driving them forward. Mike has walked into the trap without coaxing or distraction.

Mike reaches down to his belt buckle as he continues walking, but before he can undo it, a thick wire catches him across his throat. He throws his hands up, grabbing onto the wire, trying to stop the thing from doing any damage. An instant shot of adrenalin courses through his veins making him hyperaware of the sound of moving wire and the crunch of dried leaves under someone's feet. Hanging onto the wire for dear life the razor blades cut into his palms making him scream in agony.

"Argh!" Mike shouts, fighting, pushing at the wire with every ounce of power he can muster. "No!"

With a force greater than anything Mike has ever experienced on the football field, the wire is jerked back until his back violently hits a tree.

"What the fuck?" Mike shouts, confusion clouding his mind. He can't help but wonder who would do such a sick, depraved thing.

Mike can only look ahead of himself, confused and scared, the pain in his hands and on his neck almost unbearable. He barely makes out movement when the wire tightens around his neck, cutting off his air supply. He kicks his legs out, grabs at the wire again, not caring that the razor blades cut into his hands again. Desperately trying to free himself he pushes a foot against the tree doing anything he can to get away from what he knows will be his death.

The killer stands behind the tree, heart racing with excitement as the sounds of Mike scrambling for freedom rise through the woods, the smell of blood and urine dripping from his prey like fuel to his sick depraved mind. The killer continues pulling the wire tighter and tighter until there is resistance. Wrapping the wire around to the front, the killer walks around to face Mike. Wanting to see his face when he dies, wanting to see the light leave his eyes, wanting to see the moment of realization.

"You?" Mike mouths as he sees who the killer is. "Why?"

"Because I can," the killer spits as he wraps the wire around his hands, plants a foot against the tree and jerks it with all of his strength. As the wire cuts through Mike's skin blood spurts out, splattering the killer's face. Mike's look of utter horror and loss fades as his head is severed, his body crumpling to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

The killer bends at the waist to pick up Mike's head by the hair, raising it up, looking into the mask of death, a small smile tugging at the corners of their mouth.

"Good night, sweetheart," the killer says as kisses are placed on Mike's dead cheeks one at a time.

~DR~

Oblivious to Mike's violent death, the party around the bonfire is going along nicely and people are drinking and telling jokes. A few couples are grinding against each other, ignoring the fact that they are in public, in plain view of everyone else.

Suddenly, a flood of bright light washes over everyone making people blink and others cover their eyes. Over a loudspeaker their explanation comes.

"This is the park ranger, you are trespassing, and any person that does not disperse in the next minute will be arrested." Demitri, the park ranger, hates that the teenagers from the Res and nearby Forks always choose his protected beach to party on. He almost wishes they would hang around so he can pound some sense into someone. Instead, teenagers are scurrying like an ant hill that has been scratched open.

Car doors are slammed closed, engines start, and bikes speed off as everyone tries to escape. Bella looks around trying to find Jacob, she thinks she sees him running off in the direction of the Res and flees to her car before she can get into any trouble.

Demitri gets out of his car and makes his way down to the beach, finding a passed out teenager lying on the sand. He kick's the kid against the boot waking him up.

"Oh fuck," the kid cusses, scrambling up from the ground, running towards the sound of revving engines and car horns.

Taking his spade, Demitri makes his way around all the fires, dumping sand on them to kill the flames. "Goddamn kids," he grumbles. "This is such a fucking fire hazard."

Finally, after nothing but smoldering heaps are left, Demitri returns to his Jeep and drives the short distance back to the ranger station. As he gets out, slamming the door, he looks up in confusion, wondering why his office is dark, he's sure he left the lights on when he went out to kick the kids off the beach.

Stepping through the door he snakes his hand around, flipping the light switch but nothing happens. "Damn, old piece of shit electrical breaker!" Flicking the switch a few more times as people do when lights don't come on, his irritation spikes.

Demitri steps into the dark room attempting to turn on his flash light. It takes a few shakes and increasingly angry slaps on his palm before it flickers to life. He seeks out the breaker board on the opposite side of the room, and when he opens the door and sees the main switch is in the off position. Demitri shakes his head at the crappy office conditions he has to put up with. He seethes as he remembers how he's been nagging head office for weeks to fix this shit, it kills him that they seem instead not care. He reaches out and places his fingers on the switch. As he flips it up electricity shoots through his body, forcing his muscles to spasm and his teeth to clamp down on his tongue, severing the tip completely, blood dripping red down his chin as his body continues to convulse.

The killer stands outside staring through the window, hands crossed over their chest, looking at the beautiful dance of death as Demitri's body smokes, and the smell of burning hair wafts out of the open front door. They inhale a deep breath as, all too soon for their salacious taste, the rangers body sags to the ground and the very last breath of life leaves his body. The killer walks into the room looking around until they find the severed piece of tongue, grabbing the nearest piece of paper they write in big bold letters: DIDN'T TRY TO SAVE HER.

Without ceremony or regret, the killer drops the piece of paper on the ground, turns on their heel and walks out into the cold, dark night.

~DR~

Charlie breathes in the wet air that surrounds him as he takes in the scene. Another body. One of the most brutal so far. Mike Newton's head has been completely severed from his body. The head sits on top of his chest. The look of horror frozen on his face.

He can hear Seth talking next to him, but his ears seem to be filled with cotton. Instead of paying attention to his deputy he glances down at the newest evidence bag in his hand. It contains another note.

'WORDS WILL ALWAYS HARM YOU'

Charlie has no clue what happened here last night. He knows Bella was meeting up with friends, and from the look of the sand piles he passed on the beach, it's evident they were here. He considers, very thankfully, that Bella came home last night, yet Mike Newton did not. Now he has to go talk to another set of parents.

Charlie turns to the deputy, listening again as he interviews the hunter who found Mike's body.

"So you say you were out here hunting Elk and happened to come across the body?" Charlie's deputy asks.

"Yes, sir," Old Man Tanner responds.

Charlie's ears perk up as he looks at the man dubiously. "You know Elk aren't in season, right?"

Randall Tanner looks down apologetically. "I know Chief; I was just teaching my grand boy there the basics of how to hunt. I didn't plan on actually getting anything. Just wanted him to get the experience."

Charlie glances behind him and sees the young boy sitting on a tree log with a blanket around him and a female officer from Seattle next to him.

"Well, seeing as this was probably more than that boy should ever experience in his life, I'll let it go." Randall looks at Charlie gratefully. "But, I catch you out here hunting out of season again and I'll have to fine you, Tanner."

Randall nods in confirmation and walks to his grandson. Before Charlie can talk to Mike's parents he knows he needs to try to figure out as much as he can about what happened out here. He needs to piece together all the events leading up to Mike's death.

Charlie glances up at Seth. "Go on over to the ranger station and find Demetri. See if he saw anything out here last night."

Seth nods in acknowledgement before leaving the Chief with the small group of crime scene investigators who have, once again, come in from the city to their small town.

~DR~

As Seth walks down the path to the ranger station he thinks about everything that has happened. He had always thought becoming a deputy of the small town he grew up in would be cool. People would look up to him and maybe he would get a few chicks along the way. The town is small and nothing ever happens here, that is, until now. The events of the past week have changed that line of thought.

He doesn't know how they've kept the town out of a state of panic this long. He knows as much as Charlie doesn't want to, they are going to have to make a choice soon. Their excuses of wild animals and "accidents" weren't going to fly for much longer.

Seth finds himself standing in front of the ranger station door sooner than he expected. He muses about how interesting it is that moments can pass quickly when you're lost in your own thoughts. With all the things going on around him that he never thought possible, he just doesn't know what end is up anymore. He glances back behind him and sees Demetri's Jeep parked next to the building meaning he should be inside. A sick feeling runs down his spine as the smell of burning flesh assaults his senses. His gut tells him that something is off. With a sense of doom he turns the knob and his suspicions are confirmed as soon as the door swings open.

Seth reaches for the radio on his chest and buzzes the chief as he stands and surveys the gruesome scene before him.

"Charlie? We got another one."

* * *

Angel- I know a lot of you have your theories on who this psycho killer is and I would love to hear them so hit that little review button and let us know. While you're at it let us know which horror movie you feel is the one that takes it too far, is there such a thing?

Punk-I am seriously LOVING hearing everyone's thoughts on who it is. Just a reminder, we may not have a set schedule seeing as one of us has two little ones (angel!) and the other just found out their expecting their second (me!) but we wont be giving up on this story. It just may take a little longer then planned. But once again huge bloody thanks for those of you sticking with us! Till next time...


	6. Chapter 6

Punk A/N-Yeah we could use every excuse in the book on why this update took so long but lets just say RL sucks sometimes. Special gropes to Abi and Katie for making our bloody writing readable. To every reader who has taken a chance on something "different" and left a review with your theory this chapter will either answer some questions or make a whole lot more! Enjoy!

Angel A/N-Thanks Punky for not letting me give up even when life threatened to keep me way too busy. Thanks to Abi and Katie for their beta loving even if they had to hide under a blanket for parts of this.

**_Also just a reminder that this fic contains themes of extreme violence and sex so if you're not 18 please DO NOT read._**

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to the genius Stephanie Meyer, as does the genius of Scream to his holy highness Wes Craven.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

Sat Feb 13th

_Uh, no, because the asshole in the room right beside us keeps banging on the walls and won't stop. – David Fox, Vacancy_

"Oh, shit. Yeah, baby. Give it to mama," Jane Volturi coos out to her husband as he continues the assault on his wife's backside with the whip in his hand. She's tied spread eagle to the bed, on her stomach. It's Valentine's Day weekend and they're spending it in their favorite fashion; tying each other up and having kinky sex until sunrise.

"Mama," _slap__ "_likes," _slap_ "it,"

Alec punctuates every word he says with a flick of his wrist on the whip, leaving bright red lines across his wife's creamy-white bare ass. The chill that resonates up his arm at every _whoosh_of the whip is enough to make him loose himself in his tight leather pants alone, but he doesn't. He knows there is still more fun to be had.

They've made this yearly outing since they first discovered their love for the S&M world. They dabble in it lightly most days of the week, but this is the one day of the year that they go all out. They rent a hotel room specifically so they can be as loud as they want. No one will know or care what they are up to out here on this desolate stretch of road. In all their nights spent here, the only person they have ever encountered is the hotel manager. Their only interactions with him consisting of checking in and out.

Alec wraps the length of the whip around Jane's neck and pulls her back towards him. He holds the ends of the whip with one hand and reaches the other down the front of his wife's bare chest. His hand finds the short chain linking the nipple clamps together and immediately tugs it upwards, immediately getting the result he desires as the low moan emanates from his wife's throat.

His breath is hot against his wife's sweaty face. "You like that, baby? You like it rough, dontcha?" He proceeds to lick the side of her face from top to bottom before shoving her back onto the bed.

"Well, it's daddy's turn."

Alec flips open the bracelets holding Jane's wrist's to the ropes on the bedposts. "Come here, you bad girl."

Alec tugs Jane by the ponytail, high on her head, which keeps her blonde hair out of her face during their playtime. "Come show daddy how much you like it and maybe you will get some more."

Just as Alec yanks Jane down on her knees in front of him and is releasing his hardened cock from its leather confines, a loud _bang__bang__bang_sounds on the wall opposite them preceded by wild screaming before going silent again.

Alec chuckles at Jane's shocked expression. "Well, well, well, sounds like someone else is having a good ol' time too. Now suck me, my little slut." He slaps the head of his cock against her lips, silently telling her to open wide.

It takes Jane a few moments to get back into the flow of their play, the loud noise and screaming has suddenly put her on edge. It's the simple idea that after all these years of coming out here and never seeing another guest, and suddenly, someone is there. She shakes her head quickly to push aside the thoughts and returns to pleasing the man before her.

Just as she takes Alec into her mouth and begins laving her tongue all over his cock, the banging starts again. Jane is so into her ministrations she's able to ignore it, but it doesn't take long before Alec can't. He's trying to do everything he can to hold the mood and ignore the noises.

_**BANG BANG BANG**_

Alec wraps Jane's ponytail around his hand and holds tight.

_AHHHHH! **BANG**AHHH! **BANG** AHHHHHHHH!_

He thrusts into Jane's mouth rougher.

_**BANG BANG BANG**_

"Argh! Fuck this shit! This is ridiculous." Alec pushes Jane away and walks swiftly to the other side of the room, banging roughly on the wall with his flat hand.

"Hey, keep it down! There are other people here."

The noises cease immediately and Alec feels a rush of testosterone knowing that Jane witnessed this display of male dominance. He turns back to her, eying her like a lion does its prey. "Now, where were we?"

He lifts her by her ponytail and she immediately follows behind him. Alec bends her over the small chair in the corner of the room, taking his cock into his hand.

_BANG BANG BANG_

Just as Alec is about to begin his assault on his wife's hot, wet core, more banging sounds.

"Oh, you have GOT to be fucking kidding me!" Alec exclaims. He realizes it's not from the wall next door this time, it's coming from the door to the room.

"What the fuck?"

He grabs at the blanket on the bed and tosses it in Jane's direction as he makes his way to the door, tucking himself back into his pants. Alec throws the door open letting the cold air from outside rush into the room.

"What do you-" His voice trails off as he realizes that no one is standing outside. His head turns back and forth, taking in the corridor outside their room. The sun is just setting and there is just enough light for him to see the ends of each side of the walkway.

Deserted.

_Stupid__kids,_Alec thinks to himself before shutting the door once again. As he turns back to Jane he takes in her very stoic face. She just can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Alec's fingers pull at her chin and tilt her face to his. "Hey, you okay?" he asks her softly.

Jane doesn't know how to answer. She knows he will think she's silly if she says no, that it's just someone playing a joke or something. But somewhere inside of her she knows the situation is wrong. In all reality, she would rather pack it up and just go home now, but she doesn't want to ruin Alec's fun. But, apparently, honesty is going to be the way of night, as the first words out of her mouth are, "No, I'm not. I wanna go home." She only barely holds in the tears that threaten to come.

"Hey, hey, hey."

Alec's hands push back the stray hairs around her head and cup around her face. "We can go if you want to."

Jane's head bobs slightly up and down in agreement. "Okay then, let's pack up and go." Alec leaves a kiss on Jane's nose and moves to begin cleaning up their toys and pack their bags. Jane moves over to the bed and digs out her t-shirt and jeans to get dressed.

**_BANG BANG BANG BANG_**

"Oh, come on now!" Alec rushes to the door and yanks it open. "You mother—" Alec's words are cut off as two masked, dark-clothed figures barrel their way into the room. It's a mass of confusion and all Alec hears before his vision goes black is Jane's hysterical screaming.

~DR~

The light in Alec's eyes brings him out of the darkness. The first thing he feels is the massive shooting pain coming from the back of his head. He blinks his eyes slowly, trying to focus his vision. When his vision clears he is able to look down to see that he is tied to a chair in their hotel room.

"There he is. Looks like he's coming back to us now. Welcome back, champ."

A gruff voice from beside him makes him turn his head. He's met with the sight of a person in a black ski mask. And all he can see is the cold eyes of whoever hides behind it. "I thought we were going to have to toss you in the shower to get you to wake up. Didn't want you miss the show after all."

As if to answer Alec's unasked question, a small squeak sounds from the other side of the room, and his head whips around faster than it can handle. He closes his eyes momentarily to hold down the ripple of nausea as it rises

When he opens them, the sight they meet makes his heart falter.

His wife is spread out before him on the bed. She appears to be tied down similarly to how she was earlier, just on her back this time. The ball gag they had left in the bag is now secured in her mouth, stretching it unnaturally wide. Her eyes are shut and her entire body is limp as if all the life has gone out of her. The only sign Alec sees that she is still alive are the silent tears that trail down her face.

Her eyes drift open slowly and meet Alec's. He can see the desperate silent plea behind them as her body is wracked with silent sobs, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

But the thing that shakes Alec to the core is the figure sprawled out on the bed beside her, trailing what appears to be a large hunting knife up and down Jane's naked body. Maybe it's the reflection of the light, or maybe it's the fear gripping him, but the knife looks larger than it really is. It's silvery blade glinting in the dim light. The person's head is down but they are dressed exactly like the one next to Alec, only smaller in stature

A smack on the side of Alec's head brings him out of his observations quickly. "Now..." The figure next to Alec moves away from him and makes their way to the other side of the bed.

"Now it's time to play a game, and since you're awake you can tell us..."

After swallowing dry air a few times Alec finds his hoarse whisper of a voice. "Tell you what?"

The figure walks back to stand directly in front of him, bending down to look him in the eyes. "Well, which game were gonna play of course. You're gonna tell us which body part on your slut of a wife we should cut first." The masked person's voice is low and eerily calm to Alec, like this is just another normal thing to do, and every word sounds deadly because of it.

Alec fights the urge to throw up as his brain registers what has been said.

He's going to hurt Jane and there's nothing he can do about it.

The masked person backs up, laughing in Alec's face. "Oh, let's have some fun! If you're a good little boy and play our game, we'll let you go."

He turns to the person on the bed and motions for them to stand. "Now what do you think? Should we start at the top, the middle, or the bottom?"

Shaking his head rapidly Alec barely whispers, "No."

"No? Sorry, champ, but that's not an option for you. Either you play our game, or I'll make you watch me fuck your skinny-ass wife until she screams my fucking name, right before I cut her fucking heart out." The masked man slowly walks over to Alec and grabs him by the chin, lifting his head. He knows that they are going to do what they are here to do, whether or not Alec plays along, but toying with him is all part of the fun. Toying with him is part of the hit of pleasure the killer craves.

"Tell you what. I'll make this easy for you. Do we cut her leg or her arm?"

When Alec closes his eyes the killer calmly moves around to stand behind him.

"Like I said champ, you have no choice," he spits as he grabs onto Alec's hair from behind, pulling his head back so violently that the muscles of his neck instantly spasm as the killer presses the cold blade of his hunting knife against his throat. "Open your fucking eyes or I will gut you like the pig you are."

Alec's eyes fly open when he feels the blade pressing into his soft skin. With a silent prayer he hopes they make it to the other end of these masked freaks' game.

"Good boy," the killer says right next to Alec's ear, his hot breath washing over his skin. The killer stops pressing the blade into Alec's skin. "I think maybe we should start small, what do you think, champ?"

All Alec can do is nod, not trusting himself to get any words out. The sight of the second killer looming over his helpless wife is almost unbearable, the glint the knife casts over her body is not as exciting as what it would have been if that knife was in his own hand. Alec can taste the bile coating his tongue.

"Cut her face," the killer says coldly, his accomplice slowly standing up and leaning over Jane's face. A whimper escapes her lips as the accomplice brings the knife towards her skin. "I suggest you keep still bitch, or you might lose an eye."Alec's eyes grow wide at the sound of the female voice hovering over his wife.

Jane forces herself to stay still, even though every single cell in her body is screaming with fear, begging to be released from the restraints keeping her spread eagled on the bed. Her heart is racing so fast that she is convinced that the two masked people can hear it. The trickle of tears running a steady stream down the side of her face unending as the accomplice presses the blade of the knife into the flesh of her cheek

Jane screams, the sound of her pain muffled by the ball gag in her mouth, as hot blood joins the tears dripping red onto the bed.

When Alec hears his wife scream, a shot of undiluted adrenaline courses through his entire body and he fights with all his might to get away, to break free from the killers hold. Standing back, the killer looks at Alec's thrashing body with a satisfied smile.

He loves this, this is his fuel.

He loves the idea that Alec will fight, and loose, because he is so much stronger. He is powerful here, in this moment, and the thrill of it makes his dick twitch with satisfaction. This is so much better than any fucking porn movie he has ever watched.

As Alec runs out of steam and his thrashing slows, the killer steps forward again. Grabbing him by the hair once more, he yanks Alec's head back violently. "What? You didn't like that? Let's try something different then." The killer lets Alec's head fall forward again so he can see his wife. "Let's see if these perky tits are real shall we?"

Without hesitation the accomplice moves the knife down Jane's throat leaving a trail of blood on her skin. Holding Jane's breast up with one hand, the killer jabs the tip of the knife into her breast, the scream that follows laced with the intensity of pain the deep wound has no doubt elicited.

Wrapping his arm around Alec's throat, the killer stops him from thrashing. "Well, wouldn't you know, real tits! I'm impressed; they sure are fucking perky for real tits."

With a nod that only the accomplice can see, the killer gives permission for the events to escalate. Without warning or hesitation the accomplice presses the blade of the knife between Jane's ribs, perforating her lung. As Jane gasps for air, the killer increases his hold around Alec's throat, every nerve in his body alive with excitement as their victims suffocate simultaneously.

But The killers aren't going to let Alec and Jane off so easily. There is more torture to inflict on the helpless couple before extinguishing them completely.

The accomplice, driven by excitement and lost in the moment, pulls the knife from Jane's lung, a slight whistling drifting across the silence as the air escapes the hole in her side. They hold the knife to Jane's groin, waiting for the killer to follow suit. The killer knows what his accomplice wants. He knows what the crescendo of this work of art is going to be. He removes his arm from Alec's throat, and while Alec is gasping for air he positions his blade just right in his hand. With controlled authority and barely contained arousal, the killer yanks Alec's head back.

"You really should have chosen a different room, fucker," he spits across Alec's face before slitting his throat open from ear to ear. The muscles in his arm bunch with the force it takes to cut through the thick cords of muscle in Alec's neck. Blood gushes from the gaping wound and down Alec's naked chest, dripping onto the floor so quickly it looks like a dam wall has been broken, the blood a gruesome waterfall of crimson horror.

At the same time, on the other side of the room, the accomplice sinks the blade into Jane's upper thigh severing her femoral artery, blood pumping out of the wound in spurts. Jane's heart beat slows rapidly, the gushing wound losing force, until it gives out completely.

The killer unwraps his fingers from Alec's hair, steps forward and pulls his ski mask off. A huge, satisfied grin spreads across his face, flashing his pearly white teeth as he stalks towards his accomplice. The accomplice does the same, the glint in her eye telling him everything he needs to know, and everything he had hoped to see. He knows she enjoyed this as much as he did. He knows that she is driven to seek satisfaction and completion from this act as much as he is. He knows she's perfect for him as he grabs her ass, hitching her legs around his hips and crashing his lips to hers.

~DR~

"Hey, Rose, grab the popcorn when you come up."

Bella pops her head out of Alice's bedroom door and yells down the stairs before going back inside.

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and the three friends have gathered together at Alice's house for a sleep over.

Rose returns to the bedroom and all three girls settle in a circle on the floor, cushioned by pillows and blankets. Alice reaches over and turns on her iPod, providing just enough ambient noise to serve as a cloak of privacy as the girls dive into conversation.

In true teenage fashion, the conversation quickly turns to the topic of sex.

"I seriously cannot believe you are still a virgin, Bella! Alice admonishes as she concentrates on painting her toe nails. Bella blushes at the comment. It's a known fact that Bella and Jacob have yet to cross that line; it's just a line that is not usually talked about amongst their group of friends.

"Well, I think he has something planned for tomorrow." She bites her lip in anticipation of what she knows is coming next. Sure enough, both of her friend's heads swivel in her direction.

Rose is the first to speak. Her shoulders wiggle as her hands move back and forth, compelling Bella to continue.

Bella inhales a deep breath before rushing out, "I-think-I'm-going-to-go-through-with-it" She squeezes her eyes shut as t he room erupts with squeals. When they quiet back down Alice pipes up, "Well, Bella, I may not be good at much, but I definitely have this sex thing in the bag. If you need advice, come to me."

Both Bella and Rose look at Alice dubiously. "What?" she says with a frown. "I'm just saying that when it comes to sex, I'm not too modest to say I have a bit of experience."

"Slut," Rose jokingly coughs under her breath.

Alice slaps Rose's leg before she tells her friends about the quickie her and Jasper managed to pull off in the back seat of his Mustang one night.

_Jasper was supposed to have Alice home twenty minutes earlier. But instead of rushing her home to make her curfew, they pulled off the road into their usual spot, hidden from view perfectly by the trees. Jasper couldn't keep his hands to himself and Alice didn't want him to. Within seconds of putting the car in park, both Jasper and Alice were in the back seat of his Mustang, a mess of hands and lips as they desperately grasped and pulled at each other. As his lips moved against hers and his hands pulled her skirt off, Jasper's long fingers kneaded her rounded, naked ass before finding her wet folds._

_Minimal foreplay was involved as Alice turned her body over to Jasper. She let him twist her to his use. Her satisfaction amplified by knowing he was getting what he needed most._

_Soon, fogged windows hid the sight of naked flesh as Jasper held Alice's arms behind her slamming into her, over and over. The blunt head of his cock slipping between her velvet folds pushing him closer and closer to his ending._

_Grunts and gasps of breath were amplified in the confined space of the car as they crescendo to their mutual releases. Jasper spilled into her collapsing with relief. _

_Just as quickly as they got into the back seat, they were back in the front, straightening their clothes and headed to Alice's house._

Rose high-fives Alice, "Go get it, girl!"

Bella only manages to blush at the frank discussion, working to ignore the tingle between her legs. She doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that she is turned on by the sordid details of Alice's back seat romp.

As the conversation moves on, Rose shares a dirty little quirk of Emmett's.

"I swear, it was all hot at first, but now it's just fucking annoying most of the time," Rose says through her laughing fit.

"So, seriously," Alice gasps, trying to talk clearly. "He watches himself have sex?"

Rosalie nods, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yes! I'm telling you, why do you think there are so many mirrors in that guy's bedroom?"

Bella squirms. "That's, just... ewww..."

"I know, I know. But what can I say? The guy gives a good fucking. If that means he's gotta look at himself in the mirror or video tape us doing it in the mean time, then who am I to stop him? I'm getting mine, too."

Rose shrugs her shoulders as if to say "What's a girl to do?"

"Well, I'm hoping our first time is nice," says Bella quietly. "I mean, I'm not expecting flowers and candles. I just think he will try to at least make it somewhat special and maybe a little romantic." Wanting to take the focus off her impeding de-virginization, Bella asks, " What are you guys up to tomorrow? Any clue?"

"We will probably be fucking like we do every other night. I think Emmett's parents went away for the weekend, so maybe we will finally try the kitchen table." Rose snickers. "Em's been dying to see if it can hold up his weight."

"What about you, Alice?" Rose and Bella turn in Alice's direction. She seems to have spaced out for a moment and the girls aren't sure if bringing up a romantic night was the best idea.

"God only knows what will happen. If Jasper even remembers it's Valentine's Day, that is." Alice looks a little down trodden at the entire idea, so the girls quickly change subjects. They talk into the night about cute celebrities and the latest fashions. By the time the girls all fall asleep, early in the morning of Valentine's Day; Alice is back to her joyful self.

~DR~

"Fucking freeloading mother-fucking guests," Santiago mutters as he makes his way toward room six.

The guests who had checked in the night before hadn't checked out at eleven am as they were supposed to. The check out times are clearly printed on the paperwork, and every room has a big placard next to the door reminding guest when to get out. This particular problem is a huge annoyance to Santiago. He plans let those lazy bastards know whose boss and make them pay a late check-out fee.

Making his way to the room, he pulls his master key from his pocket.

"Hello?" Santiago calls as he knocks on the door. "Housekeeping?"

No reply.

Santiago knocks again a few times before pushing the key into the lock and pushing the door open. The metallic smell of blood is the first thing to assault Santiago's senses. When his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room, he sees the pale bodies of his two guests lying on the bed like they're already arranged in their coffins. Arms crossed over their naked chests, ankles tight together.

In shock, Santiago stares at their lifeless forms before drifting his gaze up to the wall above the bed to read,

_**SHOULD HAVE PICKED A DIFFERENT ROOM.**_

In a flash, Santiago bolts out of the room and empties his roast beef dinner onto the ground outside.

~DR~

Charlie holds the old style hotel room key, protected by a clear evidence bag, in his hand. Its weight measuring more than just the mass of the brass key in Charlie's hand alone.

Most hotels had main streamed into the convenience of key cards. But not this hotel, it was still holding on, in a nostalgic way. Charlie is grateful for the small stroke of luck. Those disposable key cards are never on the scene in these kinds of crimes. Maybe this time he'd get a lead on the serial killer terrorising his home town.

The room number engraved on the key strikes a chord with Charlie. As his eyes flit back and forth from the number to the message on the wall, and the cogs in Charlie's head begin to turn. He searches, working to find the hidden meaning in it all. Flashes of memories shuffle in his mind; a key, a message written in blood, his wife's murder. The key, quite like the one now in his hand, was found amongst his wife's things after her death. There is a connection between the message on the wall and the key in his hand.

They're trying to tell him something.

As he looks around the room, taking in the evidence of the crime scene around him, he surrenders, deciding he can't be bothered to try to make sense of it all right now. There are more pressing matters at hand. Most importantly, why, amongst the sprays of blood and the intricate web of what appears to be human intestines, there are two distinctly different sized shoe prints in the blood on the floor.

Charlie grudgingly lifts his head as Seth steps closer to him.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Chief?" Seth whispers

"Well, Seth," Charlie rubs his fingers across his eyebrow as he looks around the room before turning back to his deputy. "If you're thinking that we're not dealing with only one suspect, then yes, yes I am."

* * *

Punk- Oh snap! Does that say two killers? *insert evil laugh here* Some of you were spot on catching the differences in some of the killings and the multiple people aspect...But now the question is WHO? Till next time...

Angel-Yeah oh yeah, that was fun... want us to do it again soon then review, review, review or get my DH to piss me off so I can channel my anger into killing people.


	7. Chapter 7

**Punk - **Yeah we could use every excuse in the book but we will just chalk it up to RL and writers block. But we always promised we would finish this and that's what we're doing. So thanks to all who are still with us! Thanks to our beta's Katie and awesome Abi who is in the middle of launching her first published book!

**Angel - **Here's PunkfoxAngel! (Insert my Shining voice here) I know its taken forever but, yeah, real life and all that. Thank you to katiewinkles for saving us from our lack of comma use. Love to Abi... Download her original work from your favorite e-book store of get your ass to a book store. It's called Frozen Heart by Annabelle Blume. You have to read it, it really is awesome.

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

**_From the heart comes a warning, filled with bloody good - cheer, remember what happened as the fourteenth draws - near! _**

**_My Bloody Valentine_**

**Sunday, February 14th**

"Wow, Bells, you look...beautiful." Jacob tries to find the words to speak as Bella walks down the stairs. He doesn't want to gawk too long, seeing as Chief Swan is standing a foot to his left. He hands the flowers he's holding to Bella as she hits the last step, and leans over to kiss her chastely on her cheek.

It's Valentine's Day night, and Jacob has gone out of his way to plan the perfect night. Of course, he would be lying if he was to deny that he was hoping to end it by finally sealing the deal with his girlfriend, and finally score that home run. He promised himself on the drive to pick her up, that he would be on his best behavior. He decided early on that he would pull out all the stops and there would be no way Bella would refuse him at the end of the night.

Bella excuses herself to the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers before returning and catching part of the conversation between her father and Jacob.

"Where you two headed off to tonight?" Her father's gruff voice breaks through the air in the small foyer.

Bella is in the middle of pulling her coat on over her dress, checking her purse for everything she needs. She stops to look up at Jacob's face to see what the plan is. Jacob had kept their destination a secret whenever she had asked him in the past week, so she was as interested as her father as to where they were headed. She barely held in the snicker under her breath when she saw Jacob straighten his spine and pull on his "parental face" as they liked to call it.

"I made reservations at 'Bella Italia'_,_ and then we're supposed to meet up with the gang at the mausoleum, they're showing old black and whites on the main wall tonight." Jacob glances at Bella looking for her approval.

Bella can't help the tilt of her head as she wonders if those truly are their plans, or if it's just the father approved answer Jacob is giving her dad. Either way, after the talk with the girls the night before, she's excited to get the night going.

Charlie seems to accept the plans Jacob has laid out, and after reminding them that Bella's curfew is midnight, they're headed out the door.

Jacob holds the door open on his father's car; he's specifically borrowed the Lexus for the night. As she settles herself into her seat, he leans in and lightly brushes his lips against hers, whispering against them as they part. "Happy Valentine's day Bella."

She smiles at him softly as he closes her door and rounds the car. She takes a deep breath as Jacob settles into his seat and starts the engine. Electricity courses her veins, she isn't sure if it is a good or bad feeling, she only hopes she's prepared for whatever the night brings.

~DR~

Jake pulls the car into the parking lot of 'Bella Italia' before smoothly exiting and appearing at Bella's door. Escorting her into the restaurant with her hand hooked into the nook of his arm, Jake begins their romantic night. Dinner is delicious. The conversation flows. The entire meal has electricity sizzling through the surroundings. But there is an elephant in the room that neither of them are willing to face, that both of them dance around. All too soon, Jake is paying the check and pulling back Bella's chair to escort her out.

They have just pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the main road, away from the restaurant, when Bella looks at Jacob.

"So, are we really meeting up with everyone? Or was that just a famous Jake parental lie?"

Jacob looks at his girlfriend from the side of his eyes, a small smirk crossing his face. Jacob figures dinner has gone so well there is no harm in rearranging the night's plans.

"Well, I did plan on meeting up with everyone; but it's only seven o'clock now, and the movies don't start till eight."

Bella's eyebrow rises.

"I know this little spot - private - figured we could maybe spend a little time by ourselves."

If Jacob had bothered to see the reaction on Bella's face he would have seen the look of nerves flash over her porcelain features as she swallowed hard. Instead, he glances back as her just as she pins a fake smile to her face.

The car ride is spent in silence as they drive down the road to this special spot Jacob has in mind. The lights of the city thin out as they turn corners and head further away. Jacob swerves onto a dimly lit turn off, turning into an even darker road. The overgrown bushes along the side of the road make it barely wide enough for the car to pass through , but soon enough the darkness opens up, and the headlights pass over an open grass field.

Jacob swiftly turns the ignition off and, with a quick peck to Bella's cheek, is out of the car. Bella's head swivels back and forth a few times as she tries to figure out where he's disappeared to. The trunk slamming shut, reverberating through the car, makes her jump in her seat. She quickly unlatches her seat belt, and is about to grab the door handle, when suddenly it pops open. Her hand flying to her throat, she gasps before she realizes that it's Jacob standing in front of her, a blanket draped over his arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby. Did I scare you?" Jacob tries to hide a laugh, realizing he had actually scared her.

"Sorry, just jumpy I guess."

Jacob offers his hand to help Bella out of the Lexus. He lets the door close behind her, and leads her a few feet away from the car before dropping her hand. He shakes out the blanket he pulled from the trunk until it lays out flat, covering a small patch of grass.

Bella's nerves settle slightly at the sweetness of the act. Kneeling down on the blanket, Jacob tugs Bella down beside him. They each lay on their backs, staring up at the velvety darkness of night; the stars illuminating the sky like diamonds. Bella quickly loses herself in the vastness of the night sky, lulled by the crickets chirping and an owl hooting in the distance.

"It's beautiful out he-"

Bella's words are cut off by Jacobs's mouth attaching itself to hers. It takes her a second before she can respond. She tries to relax and get into the flow of things, but her nerves are making things difficult. Apparently, on Jacob's side, it's enough, and as soon as he feels her respond to him, his hand latches on to her chest roughly, his teenage hormones and inexperience evident.

Bella places her own hand on top of his, trying subtly to tell him to slow down. Once again, Jake takes this as a sign to move forward. He removes his hand from her chest leaving her own behind, as his lips move sloppily to Bella's neck, his hands moving down to pull her skirt up. Jacob's teeth are roughly, over-eagerly, grazing the soft skin of her neck as his hot fingers fumble with her underwear.

"Jacob, slow down," Bella pleads softly into the night.

His fingers dig into the flesh of her thigh ignoring her plea.

"Jake, stop." She pleads again. "Jacob, no!"

Once again her words are ignored as Jacob instead places his left leg between hers knees. One hand continues to fumbling under her lace underwear as his other dives under the top of her dress. His hand tugs her nipple free of its coverage, pulling on it roughly. In desperation, Bella raises her leg that is caught between his until her knee meets his groin. Both of Jacob's hands release their hold on her as they come to cup his now throbbing package.

"I said stop!" Bella shouts, pulling her dress back down as she backs away from Jacob's crouched form. Bella watches as Jacob sucks in a few deep breaths, trying to collect himself.

"God, Jacob what's gotten into you? I said stop."

"No, Bella what's gotten into you? I thought for once we were gonna move to the next step here. But I should have known." Jacob shakes his head as he finally pushes himself up.

"Should have known WHAT, Jacob?" Bella has an inkling what he is about to say. She knows she has given mixed signals to him all through the evening. She thought she was ready for them to move on to the next phase of their relationship, but something feels off. No matter what Jacob might think, if he was a real man he would have stopped the second she said no - but he didn't. Bella reminds herself of this when guilt starts seeping into every inch of her.

"That you're nothing but a tease," Jacob huffs, laughing under his breath before turning to Bella with a sinister grin spread across his face, the sight of it scaring her to the deepest parts of her being. "Unlike your mother, you are nothing but a frigid bitch."

Bella gasps as his words hit her like an anvil between the eyes. Her chest immediately tightens at the mention of her mother's unsavory behavior. The fact the words are spat at her by her boyfriend is like a tightened fist around her heart. She allows herself a small fraction of time to absorb everything before her anger returns in full.

"Fuck you, Jacob Black," she spits. Before she even sees it coming, the back of Jacob's right hand connects with a resounding crack across her cheek; her neck twisting to the side with the force at which he strikes her.

"No, fuck you, Bella. I've been nothing but good to you. I've waited for you all this time, and yet still you wanna play the role of super virgin. Well, I've had enough. You're gonna give me what I earned."

Bella stands up slowly, silently backing away from Jacob.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jacob sneers after her retreating form.

"Home, you stupid son-of-a-bitch," she yells over her shoulder as she begins to run. The sound of Jacobs laughter the only response Bella gets in the silence of the night.

Bella makes it just past the overgrown trees and back onto the main road when her tears break free and begin to fall. Her tears are not only from the hurt she feels at Jacob's callous words, but also the sting of pain in her cheek from where his hand hit her. She's crying so hard she is barely able to see where she's going, and she doesn't notice that she has made it back into the main part of town. The blisters forming on her heels the only testament that she's just run miles. She realizes belatedly that she's left her purse containing her cell in the Lexus. Not wanting to worry her dad, she decides to go to a gas station in hopes of using the payphone and getting Rose to pick her up.

Almost defeated, she realizes that the closest gas station would mean passing the police station. She knows that if any of her dad's deputy's sees her rumpled appearance she won't get through the night without explaining to Charlie what happened. So instead she decides to cut through the alley behind the bookstore and antique shop, bypassing the police station completely.

Turning left down the alley, Bella immediately regrets her decision. Although the town is small and it's still early in the night, something about it gives her the creeps. The hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention as the darkness of the alley makes it clear that this isn't going to be a cake walk. She tucks her chin into her chest and tries to ignore the shadows moving along the edges of the high walls surrounding her.

With her arms wrapped tightly around herself, Bella walks as quickly as possible trying to get to the other side. The sound of metal scraping against metal brings Bella to a dead stop. Frozen to the asphalt she strains to hear something - anything. Nothing but silence fills the cold night air. Shrugging it off as a cat rummaging through trash, Bella continues along her darkened path.

She's barely walked a few yards when metal against metal ricochets off the walls of the alley. Before Bella can just discount it as a hungry tabby, the sound of giggles follows. Bella spins around towards the sound, her heart hammering a quick staccato beat against her chest, her breath hitching as fear courses through her veins.

"Who's there?"

Nothing can be heard. No shadowed figure standing at the end of the alley, no stray cat – nothing. Suddenly, from behind, a screeching sound, like nails against a chalkboard echoes down the empty alley, followed by the same laughter but much closer. The laughter sounds like someone not quite stable.

Finding this torture too much, her fight or flight response kicks in; her breath hitched and mouth dry, her muscled coiling to act. Then, from behind her comes a whisper in her ear; as if someone is standing right behind her. A deep, icy voice says, "Fucking whore, just like your mother, Isabella."

Without another thought, without turning to see who it is, Bella bolts in the opposite direction, running as fast as her legs can carry her, out of the alley, around the corner and into the main street. She stops at nothing, adrenaline pushing her faster than she has ever run.

Bella notices Edward Cullen a fraction of a second too late, and collides into his firm body so hard that the air leaves her lungs. She is flung backwards, losing her balance, falling to the ground into a crumpled heap, spent and out of breath.

"Oh shit, Bella. Fuck, I'm sorry," Edward says, rushing to her side. "I didn't see you."

For a moment she is at a loss for words, and too out of breath to reply. She looks down at her scraped palm, blood pooling and dripping red to the ground. Dropping down, onto his knees, Edward pulls a napkin out of the carrier he had with him, pressing onto her palm. In that moment, all the suppressed anger, sadness and fear breaks free, tears spilling down her cheeks dropping to the ground as if they're eager to meet the circles of blood already there.

Edward is all but panicking when Bella bursts into tears. "Ah fuck, Bella, don't cry."

"No, it's alright," Bella says as she wipes the tears from her cheeks with the palm of her hand. "It's not your fault." She looks back towards the alley, seeing nothing but darkness.

"What's wrong?" Edward asks, his gaze following hers towards the alley.

She shakes her head in reply before pushing up off the ground, dusting her dress off.

"I think it was just a couple of kids playing a prank. I guess I should have thought twice about walking..." Bella trails off as Edward stands up, pulling her up with him, his body too close to her own, the lick of electricity off her skin making each nerve ending wake from its slumber.

"Why were you walking...you know what? I'm headed your way, how about I give you a lift?" Edward offers, but doesn't give her a chance to reply before turning towards the silver Volvo parked in front of the diner. Opening the door, Edward says, "Come on, let's get you home."

Bella hesitates for only a moment before she decides to go with her gut and she climbs into his Volvo, waiting for him to walk around. Clenching her teeth, she tries to still their chattering, failing miserably. Edward arches a pierced brow as he leans forward to turn the heat up.

"Thank you," Bella says, leaning her head back, eyes closed as her muscles relax from the warmth.

"Why were you walking home alone?" Edward asks as he turns the key in the ignition and steers the Volvo onto the road, headed towards Bella's house.

"I had a fight with Jake," Bella blurts. She isn't sure why she is even telling him, but for some reason she feels more at ease with this stranger than she has ever felt with Jacob. She looks down at her palm, the wound clotting and no longer bleeding, too afraid to make eye contact with Edward.

"On Valentine's Day? That fuck...uh, shit sorry. Not my place, but fuck, Bella, that idiot is like a fucking horny dog with an alpha complex that needs to be put down." Edward looks physically pained as he thinks about Jacob.

Bella can't help the giggle that escapes her lips at Edward's choice of words. It matches perfectly. After the night she's had, she was more than willing to be the one to put him down. Edward looks at her from the side of his eyes for a second before his own lips quirk up.

"You feel better?" he asks.

Bella takes a deep breath before telling him yes.

"You wanna tell me what happened? I mean, I know we're not exactly friends or whatever, but if you need someone to talk to I've been told I have a pretty good ear. Well, by my mom, she may be a little biased but-" Edward begins to ramble in his nervousness, but Bella cuts him off, understanding his unease.

"There was just a misunderstanding. Jacob was ready to do something I wasn't yet."

"Fuck Bella, he didn't… Did he?" Edward looks absolutely horrified from his spot in the driver's seat. "I'll turn around and give him a -"

Bella places a hand on his arm to stop him. "No, he never got a chance. I got out of there before he could do anything," she assures him, her hand lingering a little longer than it really should.

Edward physically relaxes, his eyes returning back to the road. Bella makes a few gestures, pointing out the way to her house. Stealing glances at her, Edward's expression is blank and unreadable.

"Of course, everyone knows where the police chief lives," Bella murmurs to herself.

Edward pulls up in the driveway of the darkened house and puts the car in park. A slightly uneasy silence settles over the two of them in the confined space in the cab of his car.

"Thanks, Edward. I mean, really; you didn't have to bring me home, but I want you to know I really appreciate it." Bella tries to smile while holding in the emotions that are threatening to spill again. The experience in the alley still lingers in her mind and she doesn't want to think about what could have happened if Edward hadn't been there.

"Not a problem," Edward says, a flicker of emotion crossing his face, like concern mixed with anger.

Bella moves to exit the Volvo, but is stopped by the sound of Edward saying her name. She turns around, lifting her eyebrow in a silent gesture to continue.

"Would you...I mean, I know we don't even know each other much, but would you maybe like to hang out sometime?"

Something about this boy, with aggressive, scary tattoos and piercings, seeming so unsure of himself, makes Bella want to cry all over again. She wants to find the person who has hurt him so much that he feels the need to hide behind this facade of strength and make them pay.

"Sure." She nods shyly. "I'd like that. Here, gimmie your phone and I'll give you my number. "

Bella quickly punches her number into Edward's phone. "I don't have my phone on me, but just text me, and when I get it back I'll have it, kay? Or I'll see you at school? We'll make plans or something?" This time she's the nervous one and at a loss as to why he's flustering her so.

The blinding smile Edward returns in response is enough to calm her nerves. He nods back at her as they say their goodnights. Bella watches Edward back out the driveway, pulling away as she walks backwards towards the house. Something in the walkway nearly trips her just as the last of Edward's tail lights disappears. She turns around and finds her purse sitting on the path to the house. Remembering she left it in Jacob's car, she figures he must have swung by and dropped it off. She can't help the shiver that runs up her spine as she glances around the empty street in front of her house.

She quickly grabs her keys out and lets herself into the house. Once she's sure she is locked safely inside, she trudges up the stairs to her room. She wants to do nothing but forget this night ever happened. A hot bath sounds tempting, but the exhaustion of the night has suddenly settled on her shoulders, and in that moment she wants nothing more than to crawl into bed and shut out the world.

As she flips on her bedroom light, her eyes settle on her bed, and she knows in an instant that sleep won't happen. Sitting propped against the heart pillow Grammie Swan made for her, is a red heart- shaped box. Slowly, Bella inches towards the bed and picks up the heavy box.

With shaking fingers, she opens the card stuck on the outside to read the message inside:

_I want this floor painted red,_

_with blood the body's lotion._

_In my mind I see you dead,_

_and I cannot control this emotion._

_Scattered across this floor,_

_the heart I never did love._

_The morning when I awake,_

_I breathe this sweet decay._

_His lover's life I did take,_

_Her body left to rot away._

She swallows the lump in her throat as she slowly pulls the lid off the box. A scream pushes from her throat, bouncing off the walls as her hand flies up to cover her mouth. Scream after scream continues; she can't help it as she watches the box fall to the ground, and the bloody human heart that was housed inside roll out on to her carpet, staining it with dripping red blood.

* * *

**Punk - **Still with us? Then leave some love and good news next ch is already being worked on so hopefully shouldn't be such a long wait next time!

**Angel - **Heart anyone? Please, please, please do let us know what you think. The next chapter is set to be a whole lot more bloody.

POEM FROM: www. /dark/ ?id = 585178


	8. Chapter 8

**Punk A/N-Welcome back to our own brand of therapy. Thanks to our usual people! But mostly to the readers who have stuck with us! I gotta say I think this chapter is one of the roughest we have done. I think we should probably start it with a cringe warning cause damn I was cringing by the end! Good Luck see ya at the bottom!**

**Angel A/N- As she says, cringe worthy. You all love bunnies right?**

**Thank you to ReaderAbi and KatieWinkles who have stuck with us and keep making our words pretty. And Punky, i believe you have something to tell me?**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

**Saturday, February 20th**

"We've traced the call. It's coming from inside the house." – _When a Stranger Calls_

The darkness of night has settled in, the constant patter of rain against the windowpanes of the Stephens house can be heard for the first time in hours, as silence has finally descended. The children are finally asleep after a marathon run of nursery rhymes and story books. One story book in particular had them kicking and screaming and begging for more. _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ is firmly imprinted in Angela's memory, marked as a truly hated book. Standing tentatively, Angela keeps her eyes on Lee as she makes her way out of the bedroom, repeating her mantra over and over in her head_. Please don't wake up. Please don't wake up._ If only Lee fell asleep as easily as his baby sister did, she'd have been able to watch the movie she'd TiVo'd last weekend.

Angela's phone vibrates just as she flips off the light in the kid's bedroom. She freezes, holding her breath as she sends a little prayer up to the gods of babysitters that the sound of her phone vibrating doesn't wake them.

When they don't move for a full ten seconds, she lets out her breath and pulls her cell from her pocket.

**Safe 2 call? - Ben**

She doesn't respond, deciding to call him instead. Ben picks up just as Angela reaches the landing at the bottom of the weathered stairs.

"Hey, baby, how are the rugrats?" Ben asks.

Angela grabs her handbag and pulls open the front door, careful to close the creaking weight as softly as she can behind her, so as not to wake up Lee, the terror of all things Hungry Caterpillar.

"Finally asleep," Angela says with a sigh as she digs through her over sized bag looking for her cigarettes. "I swear they like to torture me on purpose. If I have to read _The Hungry Caterpillar_ one more time I might take my own life."

With a smile of triumph, Angela pulls her Marlboro's out. She flips the lid open, pulls a cigarette out, and places it between her lips as she resumes searching through her bag for her lighter. Holding her cell to her ear with her shoulder, Angela cups the front of the cigarette with her hand and flicks her Bic, the spark of the flint quickly turning to a flame with the help of the gas. Before Angela is able to get the end of the cigarette lit, wind rushes past her, extinguishing the flame. Frowning, she looks around, noting that none of the trees are stirring in even the lightest of breezes.

Ben prattles on but she pays him no attention, too focused on getting her cigarette lit before she kills someone. Her skin crawls with her need for nicotine. Flicking her Bic again, she brings the flame to the tip of her cigarette quicker this time, inhaling the dark smoke deeply into her lungs, relief immediately coursing through her body.

"So I was thinking," Ben continues, oblivious to the fact that Angela hasn't heard a word he is saying,."With the kids asleep, maybe I can come over?"

The silence on the other end of the line brings Angela back to reality, exhaling before answering, "No, you know I can't do that. Just come pick me up at eleven like usual."

"Oh, come on, Ange," Ben pleads.

"No, Ben."

"Come on, baby." Ben continues to work on Angela, putting on what he believes is his sexy voice. "You know you wanna. We can use the hot tub again. Remember how awesome it was doing it in water?"

Angela can't help the flashes in her mind of the night Ben is talking about. A low moan escapes with the smoke out of her mouth. "Yeah, you're right, that was pretty hot. But do you remember how we almost got caught that time? I can't risk losing this gig!" Angela can't help the whine in her voice. Her boyfriend knows she hates to tell him no, but she really can't risk losing the easy babysitting job if she's going to pay her way out of Forks.

"Are we ever gonna do it again, Ange?" Ben's voice loses all sex appeal, his voice becoming that of a whiny teenager. "We can't at my house, and the last time we tried at your house we almost got caught too. I swear, it's like you're deliberately trying to give me blue balls." In true hormonal teenager fashion, Ben can't help but imagine his blue balls exploding if he doesn't get to _do_ his girlfriend, stat.

"Aw, is my poor Benji in need of some tender lovin' care?" Angela sarcastically asks as she rolls her eyes at how ridiculous her boyfriend is acting. "Listen, how 'bout this? I'll call my mom and tell her Mr. and Mrs. Stephens aren't coming home till later. Be here at the normal time and that way we can have some time to go out to our spot. Will that make you happy?"

"Fine. I still don't get why I can't just come over now. It would be quick," Ben huffs, truly irritated that he can't get his way. "I should just go find someone else who actually wants to fuck me." Ben is only half joking, but the words leave his mouth before he can even attempt to stop them.

Narrowing her eyes, Angela replies, "Well make sure you have cash, most of them don't take credit cards."

"Aw, baby," Ben croons. "You know I'd never-"

"You know what, Ben?" Angela snaps, cutting him off. "Whatever. Be here at eleven, or  
don't, I don't care."

Angela snaps her phone closed as she flicks her cigarette into the nearby bushes to join the hundreds of butts she has previously sent to their death under the roses.

She takes a deep breath to clear her mind of the anger that rose just as her phone vibrates in her hand again.

"God, Ben, what part of me hanging up on you do you really not get?!" Angela snaps as she answers the line, not bothering to check the the caller ID.

"Aaaannngeeellllaaaaa!" an unfamiliar voice sings to her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention. "A- A- A- Aaaangelllaaaaaaaa,I seeeee youuuuuuu."

"Ben, is that you?" Angela asks, looking around her, wondering if whoever it is playing this prank , can really see her, or if they are just messing with her. "If you think this is funny, Ben, you have another thing coming!"

Just to be safe, Angela makes her way back into the house,locking the door behind her.  
"Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Benji Benji Ben, Ben," the melodic voice sings. "Ben is a very, very bad boy, isn't he? We think he needs to be taught a lesson. What do you think Angie Pangie?"

A shiver crawls all the way up Angela's spine and into her heart, making it speed up and bang against her rib cage. Her senses are hyper aware as she looks around, each little sound registering as a tingle in her fingertips.

"Who is this?" Angela demands before making her way around all the windows to check that they are locked.

"Aaaaangelllllaaaaaa, I'm your bestest, bestest, best friend," the person answers, sounding like a child who has been disappointed, a child on the verge of a teary tantrum.

"What do you want?"

"I want your blood all over me," the killer replies in a sing song voice. "I want to do finger painting with your pretty red blood. Pretty please Aaaangellllaaaa?"

Angela flips her phone closed, effectively cutting off the call. Her heart remains hammering in her chest as the adrenaline pumps through her veins. Just as her eyes close and she takes a deep breath trying to slow her heart rate down, the phone rings in her hand again. Immediately, she thinks of the sleeping children upstairs, and prays the ringing doesn't wake them as she hurries to flip her phone open.

Tentatively, she raises it to her ear.

Nothing but the sound of her own breathing can be heard.

The voice on the other end breaks the silence as Angela gasps. "Angellaaa... I hear you."

"What do you want?" Angela tries to fake the confidence in her voice.

The voice on the other end responds in a whisper,"I told you. I want your blood all over me, Angelaaaa."

Silent tears stream down Angela's cheeks as she really starts to freak out. She says a silent prayer, hoping for protection.

"Angela? Are you there, Angela?" The voice laughs at Angela's responding whimper. "Oh, Angela. Have you checked the children lately, Angeeelllaaaa?"

Angela's eyes fly open at the question, and,.without hesitation, she snaps her phone shut and races upstairs to the door she closed less than ten minutes earlier. Her hand shakes as she reaches for the golden door knob, and she timidly turns it, swallowing dryly as she pushes the door open. The room is dimly lit only by the two night lights. Quickly and silently, she walks to the beds and checks each child in turn, finding both peacefully asleep and lost in the dream world.

Angela exits the room and leans against the door in the dark hallway taking a deep breath. Chalking it up to a sick joke,her heart rate finally returns to a calm state. Angela stops herself from laughing out loud as she hears a creak coming from downstairs. It sounds like someone scraping a chair on the hardwood floor of the Stephen's dining room.

Angela's first instinct is to run to the bathroom; she figures she can hide in the small linen closet while calling for help. With her heart racing, she tiptoes her way down to the other end of the hallway, and slides into the partially open bathroom door. As she turns around, her eyes search the room, an overwhelming feeling that something just is not right washing over her. The curtain in the bathtub is closed. She knows she always leaves it open after the kids bath's. Frowning, she tries to remember if she's right in her recollection; that like normal, she left it open after giving the kids their bath earlier.

Her hand reaches out and jerks back the curtain in one swoop. What stands before her momentarily stuns her. Her mind tries to make sense of what appears to be a person dressed in a giant pink bunny suit staring back at her. She is so lost in her shock that she fails to notice the gleaming blade in the persons hand until it is firmly lodged in her gut.

**~DR~**

Anticipation builds as the killer runs their pink bunny thumb over the perfectly sharpened blade. The sound of unmistakable panic in Angela's voice is like an unexpected Valentine's Day gift. The fact that she thought a locked door would save her from her date with death is almost laughable. There is no escape. There is only fate.

Patiently, the killer waits in their spot, listening to the sound of Angela moving around in the kid's bedroom. The killer flexes their hand, tightening their hold on the blade as a small smile pulls at the corner of their mouth. They've been waiting forever for this kill, their hatred building more and more every day for this slut. This bitch who pretends to be innocent and sweet, only to drip venom as frequently as she drips cum from her pussy. She was gonna be gutted like the cum receptacle she is.

The sound of the bathroom door opening has the killer's senses alive, the adrenaline and excitement coursing through their veins as the reckoning they've been waiting for arrives. The killer's muscles coil in preparation as Angela jerks back the curtain, and without hesitation, they plunge the blade into her gut before she's even realised what's happened.  
"Helllllooooooo Angeeeeelllllaaaaaaa!" The killer sings as they step out of the bath and pin Angela's body against the wall, pulling the blade up towards her chest, cutting her open from navel to ribs. Blood gushes out of the gaping wound, covering the bathroom floor in a pool of crimson red blood. Unable to hold in their pleasure, the killer throws back their head, laughing a demented laugh.

**~DR~**

Shortly before eleven, Ben pulls up to the curb outside the Stephens place. He hopes like hell Angela has forgiven him, and will still be willing to go to their spot. With difficulty, he adjusts his perma-hard-on and turns the ignition off. Even though he's exhausted from basketball training, he can't wait to get balls deep into his girl's wet and willing pussy.  
Eleven o'clock is always a hard time for Ben. He's usually in bed by now, but not tonight. Tonight he has a date with his girl. As he sits, waiting for Angela, his eyes droop. But the silence and comfortable cocooned warmth of the car wins out over his need to fuck, and Ben falls asleep.

With a start, Ben wakes up, taking in a gasp of air only to realise he's been gagged. Frowning as panic sets in, he attempts to raise his hand to his mouth to remove the gag, only to find that he's been restrained too. A shot of fear explodes through him, tingling across his naked skin.

He turns his head, looking at all the kitchen appliances around him, and slowly lowers his gaze to his lap to confirm his worst nightmare come true. He is as naked as the day he was born, and tied to a chair.

"Anhehaaa?" Ben mumbles past the material stuffed in his mouth, his fear turning to anger.  
Why would Angela do this? He knows she's pissed off but fucking hell, this is a little too kinky even for Ben. How did Angela manage to do this on her own?

Anhehaa?" Ben tries again, the constraints of the gag fucking with his ability to say Angela's name. As desperation sets in, he starts pulling at his restraints, pulling and shoving as hard as he can in the hopes of getting free.

"Benjiiiiii," a childlike voice sings somewhere out of view, followed by the eeriest giggling Ben has ever heard.

"Beeeeeeenjjjjiiiiii," the voice sings again, as a person walks into view. Ben laughs in spite of the gag in his mouth when he erroneously believes Angela is standing in front of him, dressed in a pink bunny suit.

She slowly shakes her head from side to side at him, before raising her head to look over Ben's head. The nightmarish pink bunny is looking at someone - someone who he suddenly realizes is standing right behind him. Ben tries to look behind himself to see who is there, but his attention is rapidly brought front and centre when the pink bunny takes hold of his cock.

"Benji wittle wee wee worrying him? I make it aaaaall better." With a flick of her pink, bunny wrist, a knife slices through the hilt of Ben's cock. Crying out through the material of his gag, Ben thrashes in pain. The bunny giggles as she holds his dismembered cock in her hand, the expression on Ben's face almost as much of a reward as killing Angela was.

"No no no no no no," Ben cries through his gag, begging them as much as he can, wanting nothing more than relief from the all encompassing, consuming pain. Ben pulls at his restraints, trying to get free, wanting to escape from this hell he has woken up to. This is it. This is the moment that the killer lives for. That moment of utter desperation, the moment where his victim still wants to live, and hasn't quite yet figured out that life is over.

Without hesitation the killer grabs hold of Ben's hair and pulls back his head. Ben tries to shake free of the killers hold, but a knife slashes through his throat, splashing dripping red blood across the kitchen counters. Blood gushes free of the wound like water escaping from a broken dam wall, coating Ben's naked body.

Giggling, the pink bunny skips in circles around Ben's dying body, spreading the pool of scarlet blood. For good measure the killer, still standing behind Ben, cuts the gaping wound deeper, before removing the knife and holding it up to his nose to inhale the sweet, metallic tang of death.

**~DR~**

Charlie's cell rings on the table next to him, and he pauses the hockey game he is trying to watch. He has a feeling it's more bad news for his little town. He clears his throat as he presses the answer button.

"Chief Swan." His short answer is met with silence before his deputy's voice answers.

"Chief, we got another one." Seth tries to keep his voice level after seeing the scene in the house he just exited.

Charlie's eyes close as so many questions fly through his mind. "Who now, Seth?"

"The Stephens household. Baby sitter and her boyfriend." Seth's response is clipped.

Charlie lets him know he will be there as soon as he can and ends the call. Taking a deep, steadying breath, his first thought is of Bella, upstairs in her room. After the sick prank played on her this past Valentine's Day with the heart left on her bed, Charlie's felt uncomfortable leaving her alone. As much as he has tried to play off the bad feelings he gets, he knows it would be stupid to deny what's going on in his town. He's tried to take certain protective measures with the town, but they don't seem to be working.

His guys are working every angle they can. Whoever it is doing this, they're very meticulous about what they do. It's almost as if they're leaving clues, Charlie thinks. And that's not even including the blatant messages left in blood at each crime scene. But Charlie can't think about all that now. He gets off his recliner and heads up to Bella's room in the hopes that Jacob can come and stay with her while he's gone. As much as he doesn't relish the thought of her and her boyfriend staying in his house without him present, he's running low on options. He trusts Bella, though, and would rather have Jacob here then his baby girl all alone.

Charlie's knuckles tap against Bella's partially shut door before nudging it open. Bella's back is to him as she sits at her computer.

"Hey, Bells. I gotta head out."

"What's up, Dad?" Bella asks, a crease of worry marring her smooth forehead.  
Charlie hesitates, thinking for a moment about how to respond, before reminding himself that he has always been honest with his daughter. "Um, there's been another one. Out at the Stephens' house. Seth just called. Babysitter, I guess. I'm headed there to check it out."  
Charlie's never seen his daughter go so white, as the blood drains from her face.

"The Stephens house? Are you sure?" Bella's voice cracks. She fears her dad's answer.

"Uhh, yeah, that's what he said. Why?" Charlie takes a step into Bella's room.

"Angela babysits for the Stephens, Dad."

Charlie pauses, realization dawning on him that another one of his daughter's friends has needlessly been taken. He pulls himself together, not willing to let emotion get the better of him.

"I want you to go ahead and call Jacob, and have him come hang out with you while I'm gone, okay?" Bella nods before Charlie turns to go put on his uniform.

Bella comes running down the stairs just as Charlie is strapping on his gun belt.

"Dad, I can't get hold of Jacob," Bella says before biting her lip, willing herself not to consider the worst outcome. "In fact, it's been a few days since I've heard from him."  
Bella hopes that Jake is still pissed over their date on Valentine's Day. She's deliberately given him a few days to cool off, but, ever the police officer's daughter, she's worried.

Charlie takes in Bella's concerned expression, knowing too well the possibilities she's running through in her mind. He's been considering all of those possibilities himself since Harry called looking for Jake a few days ago. He makes a note to have the blood on the heart tested again. They need to make one hundred percent sure it isn't Jake's body they should be looking for. He pushes the thought aside before responding to Bella.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna make a call and have Seth, or one of the other deputies, come stay with you. He can take you to Rose or Alice's if you want. I don't want you alone for a second. Got me, Bells?"

He narrows his eyes and gives her the father stare down. Bella dutifully nods.

"Isabella Marie Swan, I'm serious. I don't want anything happening to you." With her dad using her full name Bella knows to take the situation even more seriously than she was before. She doesn't want to be alone either. She doesn't want to be left alone with her thoughts, to worry about Jake and wonder if he's alive.

Charlie leaves for the scene as soon as Seth pulls in the driveway and he knows Bella is safe.

The outside of the house is picturesque, but Charlie know's the bloody scene it hides inside. He parks across the road and walks to the back of the ambulance parked out front. A couple are sitting out the back of the open doors with blankets wrapped over their shoulders. In each of their laps is a small child is being clutched tightly, their bleary eyes showing that they have recently been woken. Charlie nods in greeting as he steps closer.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stephens, evening."

The couple both nod at the Chief as he asks them to recount their evening. They tell him point by point from the time they left the house, to the scene they arrived home to. Just as Charlie is about to bid them goodnight, the little boy in Mr. Stephens lap whispers something in his father's ear.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," the father replies to his son.

Charlie looks at the boy in question. "What is it, son? Do you have something else?"

The little boy looks up from his father's lap. "I just want to know where the big, pink bunny went."

Charlie is momentarily confused until the boy speaks again. "The bunny came in my room, tucked my blankets around me, and told me to stay in my bed."

The parents exchange a look with Charlie; one of fear and relief. No one is sure exactly what the boy is talking about, but Charlie makes a note of it in his note pad to come back to later. It may be nothing, but it may be a new clue to help untangle in this web of confusion.

Nodding at one of his deputies, Charlie pushes the front door open with his boot as he pulls  
a pair of latex gloves onto his hands. He's overpowered by the sickening, metallic smell of blood; like rusted nails and old earth. He thinks that's the worst of it, until he looks up to find smears of blood on almost every surface of the den. One wall is painted with images of stick figures in what looks like various sexual positions. On another; butterflies and dogs. None of it makes any sense.

Charlie looks at every surface and every wall as he makes his way into the kitchen. When he comes around the corner, he stops dead in his tracks as Ben's body comes into view. The teenager is tied to a chair– naked - covered in dried, browned blood. It takes every ounce of Charlie's training not to scream out every four letter word he knows when he realises that Ben appears to be missing his penis.

Charlie walks back to his deputy, and asks in a flat voice, "Where is she?"

"Upstairs, sir, in the bathroom," he replies, turning towards the stairs. Charlie follows suit.  
As he's about to place his palm on the banister, the deputy stops him. "Careful, sir, it's covered in blood." Charlie pulls his index finger along the banister before lifting it to see that his deputy is correct, the banister is covered in sticky, partially dried, blood.  
The upstairs walls mirror those downstairs. More bloody pictures drawn on the reflective surfaces.

"We've already dusted for prints, sir. Nothing. Not even a partial. We found a heck of a lot of pink fibres everywhere, and we bagged that for forensics."

"Thanks, Harry," Charlie replies, nodding as they reach the closed door of the bathroom.  
Tentatively, Charlie opens the door and steps inside.

Angela's body lies crumpled up in the bath, her intestines spread out over her chest.  
Charlie's professionalism is the only thing that keeps him from emptying the contents of his stomach right there in the middle of the bathroom. That, and the splashes of blood that cover every surface in the bathroom. Charlie treads carefully as he looks around, he doesn't want to impede in any way the ability of his officers to investigate. He can't help the lump in his throat and tears that well in the corners of his eyes as he looks at Angela's body. He can't stop the image of his own daughter that comes to mind as he looks at the gutted remains of Bella's friend. This girl that was left to die such a horrible death all alone, without respect, without someone to hold her hand as some sick individual ended her life far too early. It was like Charlie's worst nightmare had come graphically to life right before his eyes.

With a shake of his head and a quick swipe to his eyes, Charlie turns and stops short as he looks at the walls.

In big letters above the bath, the message is written in blood once again:

ONCE A WHORE, ALWAYS A WHORE.

* * *

**Punk AN-*hiding behind Angel* Phew...that was a rough one...Specially if you were Ben's peen. EEEKKKK You still with us? Leave a review let us know...**

**Angel AN *laughs like the evil evil angel I am* now be so kind and hit that little review button right there and tell us how much you looooove us and maybe we'll reward you. If you could kill any of the twi characters who would it be?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Punk-Every excuse in the book - can we just sum it up to rl gets in the way? We have made the pact to not abandon this. We will finish! We have the whole story planned out to the end it's just finding the time to write it. So we appreciate each and everyone of you and implore you to just stick with us!**

**Angel- I love you Punk and there are no words that can ever convey how grateful I am that you're still sticking with me after months of writers block. And thank you to each and everyone of you who are still reading. I heart you big time! Abi thank you for still being willing to Beta even after your new found fame *Winks***

* * *

**CHAPTER 9**

**Monday, February 22nd**

_I'll tell you: never hang out with a virgin. You got a virgin in your crew, either get somebody in her pants or get the hell away from her. – Jamie, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon_

Bella lays back on her bed, her cell phone pushing into her ear. Lauren and her have been talking long enough to make the battery of her cell nearly set on fire from use; she still can't bring herself to hang up, though. With everything going on, it's nice to be connecting with someone even if its through a invisible phone line, even if it is to commiserate.

"Have you heard from Jake at all?" Laurens muted voice drifts over the line.

Bella sighs. "No, nothing."

"Ahh, Bells, I'm sorry." Lauren sympathy is evident, coming through in spades.

"Its just so crazy, Lauren. I mean, it's Angela. It was _our_ Ang." Bella's thoughts drift away as the memories, the few details she over heard Charlie talk about, return to her. She couldn't hear much before he noticed her and shut the door to his office but from what she had heard the scene was utterly horrific.

"I know, Bells. She was my bestest friend in this world and now..." Sobs can be heard over the line, intermingled with the scratchy noise of a tissue wiping at her nose. "Aren't you freaking out, Bella? I mean, what the hell is going on?"

"Oh, Lauren. I don't know what to think anymore. It's just crazy. What the hell is going on in our town?"

"So what are you guys going to do with school being cancelled?" Lauren asks in an attempt to change the mood of the conversation.

Charlie has activated a citywide curfew for the foreseeable future. A curfew that includes door to door check-ins, as well as the school closures, until they can find out what is going on and put an end to the senseless violence. For the most part their small town has been shut down. Apart from the grocery store and the diner, most all other stores have shut their doors, put up their closed signs and left. The streets are like a scene from an old western ghost town, the proverbial tumbleweed rolling down the street.

"Well, Charlie's so busy and since I can't get ahold of Jake, I guess I'm just gonna be hanging out at Rose's. You're welcome to come! We're probably just gonna raid her movies and sit around 'til this all blows over." Bella hopes Rose won't have a problem with her inviting Lauren over. There's really not much else to do. Bella can't imagine Lauren being by herself, nor does she want her friend to be on her own after losing Angela. Bella knows that the two of them were attached at the hip.

Instead of answering, Laurens whispered voice responds, "Do you really believe this will just blow over?" It's obvious by the tone of Lauren's voice that she is scared.

"I don't know, Lauren. I just don't know."Bella is at a loss of how to respond. "Just remember, you know where we will be if you wanna come hang."

Before ending their call, Lauren lets her know she will probably show up at some point, silently admitting to herself that she doesn't want to be on her own.

As Lauren ends the call with Bella, a loud thump like something big and heavy falling, comes from her brothers room.

"James?" Lauren calls, as she steps into the hallway. "Stop fucking around, would you?"

Her senses are in overdrive. With the recent events, every sound makes her jump. Lauren stands, listening, concentrating on the silence that is filling the house. Just as she turns to head back into her bedroom, another muted thump can be heard coming from James' room, followed by giggles. With a roll of her eyes, she heads back into her bedroom, thinking it's typical of her brother to have snuck Victoria, his fiery girlfriend, into the house. They'd been going at each other like bunnies in breeding season from the moment they started dating. Lauren rolls her eyes at how insensitive they are to her loss, fucking when her whole world was falling apart.

Curling her legs under her, Lauren sits down on her bed opening her photo album. Paging through it, tears stream down her face. For the first time since the news was announced, Lauren allows herself to feel the utter loss and hopelessness that has been gnawing at the edge of her consciousness. The way she feels at this very moment, Lauren can't imagine she will ever be able to get over the death of her best friend. They'd known each other since kindergarten, spent almost every waking hour together. Except, of course, when Ange and Ben were... actually no, even then, Lauren was always with them. They shared everything, even Ben. With a wracking sob, Lauren leans in and runs the pad of her thumb over a close up shot of Angela. Memories of Angela's soft lips pressing against her own flooding her thoughts. Oh God, she can't believe that she will never again feel Angela's lips against hers. She will never again feel Angela's arms tighten around her. She will never again feel the special love and bond they shared.

No one knows that they had been much closer than anyone ever realised. Angela was her lover, her best friend, her everything. And Lauren is mourning for the love of her life, not just for the loss of her BFF. Raising her eyes from the photo album, Lauren sits staring out of her bedroom window, wishing that she could see Angela, touch her again, taste her again.

"Oh Angela, I wish I was with you," Lauren whispers.

"As you wish."

A jolt of panic radiates through Lauren as the bass voice answers from behind her. She was so lost in the memories of her lover that she never even heard him come in. Before she's able to turn around, a metal garotte is wound around her neck, instantly cutting off her air supply as it is tightened, biting into the soft flesh of her neck.

Lauren grabs at the wire, trying to pull it free, her long nails digging into her own flesh as she fights for her life. Thrilled that Lauren is fighting, the killer pulls her back against his body so he can see her face, a satisfied grin spreading across his features as her mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. This is the moment that drives him. The moment before the fight gives out to the acceptance that death is inevitable. The moment the brain tries to convince itself that if it keeps fighting, it will live to breathe another day.

The killer savours the feel of her body moving against his, the rapid beat of his heart, pushing his excitement laced blood through his veins is like a drug he craves and can never get enough of. It is his own brand of heroin. Taking life is like having the best damn orgasm in the world. It is true power. Taking life is what makes him a God; a God wreaking vengeance on the puny humans who thought they'd get away with it. He will make each and everyone pay for the hell he has had to live this past last year.

With her body thrashing, her legs kick the album off the mattress, scattering the contents across the floor. The memories of happier days all but forgotten as Lauren loses her fight and finally slumps against the killers chest. Her lungs are begging for air as blackness takes over her vision and her last thought goes to the one she loves, the lover she is joining in the eternity of the hereafter.

Pulling the garotte even tighter, the killer holds on for a moment longer, watching Lauren's mask of death settle in place before he unceremoniously lets go. Her body falls to the ground like the dead weight she has become, the cord still coiled around her throat. He crouches, looking through the scattered pictures, searching for the perfect one. With a smile he picks up one of Lauren and Angela, arms wrapped around each other, smiling at the person behind the lens, the sparkle of lust in their eyes obvious.

Raising up to his full length, the killer pulls a red Sharpie out of his back pocket and writes across the faces of his recent victims, "THE WHORES COHORT", before turning back to Lauren's paling corpse and pushing it into her gaping mouth.

**~DR~**

"Ugh, are you serious guys?" Bella buries her face in the mound of pillows surrounding her on Rose's bed.

Both Alice and Rose have the decency to look sheepish at Bella's reaction. They didn't think she would have an issue with the guys coming over but judging by Bella's reaction they should have asked her before hand.

"Bells," Alice rubs her back as she raises her eyebrows in Rose's direction, in a silent _help me _look.

"Aww Bells, come on, we didn't think you would have an issue. It's just us. The guys had nowhere else to go and with my parents gone..." Rose states, not sure how much it's actually helping. They don't get a chance to continue trying to bring Bella around, when the doorbell to the front door rings below them.

Rose scoots off the bed and heads down stairs. Loud, rowdy voices can be heard coming up the stairs as Bella removes her face from the mound of pillows and smoothes her hair down before the boys are able to see her.

"Hey Bells, gotta surprise for you." Rose's voice drifts through the half open door of her room, sounding way too chipper for the state of things.

Before Bella even gets a chance to respond, silence permeates like a thick fog through the room when the door opens. Standing in the open frame stands Jacob Black, looking way too sexy and apologetic, his black hair falling into his face as his eyes meets Bella's.

Bella gasps in shock, her hand fluttering to her throat. "Jacob?" It's as if her mind and mouth don't connect, thoughts churning, questions rushing past like a movie reel. It's almost as if his reappearance makes no sense. After all this time, with no word, she can't understand how he can standing here like it's just another day. Like nothing happened. Like it was just yesterday he left her stranded.

Jasper is the first to notice the tightrope of tension spanning across the room and moves to head back down the stairs. "We'll just give you two a minute. We'll be down stairs." He grabs Alice's hand and pulls her out of the room. Following behind him, her gaze jumps from Jacob to Bella as if she's trying to read their minds.

Emmett raises the packs of beer in each hand to the couple, in an attempt to shake them from their frozen state.. "Yeah, we got hooked up. So when ever you two...you know, _make up,_" He waggles his eyebrows, "we'll be downstairs."

Rose turns to give Bella one last look, silently asking her if she's okay, in that way all girls do. Bella nods her head and Rose follows Em back down the way they came, leaving the estranged couple in a heavy silence.

"Where have you been?" Bella whispers, without raising her head to look at him. She needs to know why he seemingly abandoned her and she knows if she looks into his dark eyes, she'll forgive and forget in an instance. Her fingers tangle in the fringe of the blanket on Rose's bed, while she awaits his answer with baited breath and a deepening frown.

Jacob blows out a deep breath. " Things have been nuts at home. You know, with my dad and stuff." Bella's head raises to meet Jacob's eyes at the implied words. She knows Jacob's dad can be a little crazy, and because of that Jacob hates living at home, but she thought things had calmed down lately. She knows he's also talking about how they left things on Valentine's day, but that still doesn't answer her question.

"Where were you, Jacob?" she asks again, more firmly, this time looking up at him, hoping she doesn't get charmed by one look from him.

"I took off. Went and visited my cousin Mak, down the coast for a few days. I'm sorry I didn't call or nothing, I just...I just had to get away." Bella nearly jumps out of her skin as Jacobs hands wrap around her trembling fingers, stopping them from moving. "We camped on the beach and just surfed all day. I shut off my phone 'cuz my dad wouldn't stop calling. I came back as soon as I heard what happening to Angela."

The fact that Bella has yet to pull away makes Jacob take it as acceptance and he moves closer. His arms slide around her slim shoulders pulling her in his chest as he sits down beside her. Bella tucks her head under his chin, into that spot where she has always fit so perfectly from the very first day he cradled her in his embrace. Bella swallows the bile that rises in her throat at what it feels like being back in his arms, his body this close to her. It just doesn't feeling right, it just doesn't feel like it use to.

Her mind is a mass of confusion as her thoughts flash to recent events. She closes her eyes tight in an attempt to block out the flash of bronze hair and green eyes that keeps trying to break through. Her arms tighten around Jacobs frame as if the act alone can help squeeze the memories of another warm body out of her brain.

"Hey... Hey, I'm sorry I left you alone. I never should have done that." Jacob takes Bella's tightening embrace as a sign of her need for him, of her forgiveness. His hand gently rubs up and down her spine in what should be a soothing motion but Bella's mind is at war with itself. Part of her wants to run away and never come back. But the other half of her is reminded that this is Jacob. The Jacob she has known her whole life. Their dads used to joke about arranging this marriage when they were 10. Jacob has always been her future. But right now, she's not sure what this future holds. She's at that proverbial fork in the road. Months ago she would have never questioned which way she should go. But her life has been turned upside down and now she doesn't know which way is right or which way is wrong. Does she follow her heart or her head? Does she follow the path she has always been on, or does she veer off to take the road less travelled?

Jacob pulls back to look into her eyes. "How about we just go downstairs, hang with our friends, and just...be?" He brushes her hair away from her face and plants a soft kiss to her forehead. "You know I love you right?" Instead of returning the sentiment Bella nods in the affirmative before letting Jacob lead her downstairs to join their friends.

~DR~

Two hours later, four six packs have been consumed between the six friends. Everyone is happy and calm. That could also be from the baggie of joints that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. With all that has been going on, the friends are enjoying just being loose and tranquil, lazing about the theatre room in Rose's basement. All strewn about on the numerous couches and multi colored bean bags. Bella notices Em and Rose slink off up the stairs, presumably heading to her bedroom. At that moment, Jacob nudges Bella's knee with his own in an attempt to get her attention. He points at the mass of tangled limbs on the opposite end of the couch. Alice and Jasper appear to be only a few seconds away from complete exhibitionism.

"Think we should give them some privacy?" Jacobs asks, as the sound of someone's zipper opening can be heard.

Bella nods in a rush. She knows Alice would probably not even care if they watched but Bella herself has never been the voyeurist type. She stands from the couch and, as if by second nature, grabs onto Jacob's hand, pulling him up the basement steps behind her. She pulls him all the way into the guest bedroom where they both sit down awkwardly on the bed. The minutes stretch on for what feels like an eternity before Jacob mans up and speaks.

"Bells, I'm so sorry about Valentine's day, I mean we had a nice night and I was such a jerk ruining it like that. I don't know-"

Bella cuts him off with a hard kiss to his lips. She knows he feels guilty, she can feel it coming off him in waves, but he's apologized and Bella has never been one to hold the grudge, especially where Jacob is concerned. He's always had a volatile temperament and she has always just dealt with it.

Bella let's out a sarcastic laugh as they break apart. "God, I just wanna let go for once. Why can't my life just be a movie, you know? Why can't I know what happens and if i'm gonna get my happily ever after?."

Jacobs lip curls up into a smirk at the thought. "Life's one great big movie. Only you can't pick your genre."

Bella smiles at his words, kissing him again. In that instance she decides to let go, she's not sure exactly what comes over her, maybe it's the beer coursing through her veins or the after effects of the weed making her not care but she decides to jump. It has always been Jacob she saw her happily ever after with, so naturally it's with him she should jump off this particular cliff. Pulling back she whispers against his lips. "When did my life go from being a Katherine Heigl to a Freddy Kruger?"

Jacob huffs a laugh before Bella's lips are pressed back into his. Their tongues tangle together momentarily in a tease before she's breaking their connection to breathe. She bites her lip between her teeth as her eyes follow the movement of his tongue as it darts out, trailing over his own. "Why can't it just be a good porno?"

Jacob freezes. His warm, beer laced breath washes over her face as he stares into her eyes trying to read her. "Are you serious, Bella?"

She gives him the small smile she knows he loves, her lashes lowered as she answers, "Yeah, I think so. I'm ready. There's no reason to wait. Hell, the way this town is going I could die tomorrow and I really don't wanna die a virgin, Jake." She tries to joke but at the same time knows deep down she's being deathly serious. "Okay?"

Jacob smiles knowing it took longer than he would have planned but he's finally going to get his way. "Okay," Jacob says with gravel on his voice, his hand reaching behind her neck pulling her roughly to him.

The fantasy of how Bella imagined her first time was going to be is shattered in an instance. By the time their clothes are off, Bella is barely able to stop Jacob long enough to tell him that she wants to get under the covers of the bed. Her initial high has evaporated so much that she's become suddenly very self conscious. She's not going to stop though. She wants to break through this barrier, this final step, in hope that it clears her mind and helps her choose which fork she should take.

Jacob's arm braces by her head as his other lines himself up with her. Before she is even able to realize he didn't bother to make sure she was ready, he thrusts himself into Bella, in one movement. Bella's entire body locks up in agonizing, freezing pain, her hands clenching onto Jacobs arms as she struggles to breathe through the agony, hoping that her body relaxes enough to accommodate him.

Jacob, on the other hand, is oblivious to all but the feeling of victory coursing through his veins. He's finally pushed through the last remaining wall he had with Bella. His hips automatically pistons back and forth pumping in and out what he believes to be her slickness. Before he can go too far the heat in his abs threatens to blow over and with one last solid thrust, he empties himself into Bella with a grunt before collapsing his weight onto her. He breathes deeply sprawled across Bella's still frozen body, less than two minutes from the time they started.

He eventually pulls his flaccid dick from her and rolls onto his back, to lay next to her. The smile on his face beaming so much so that it can be seen for miles, if anyone was watching. It is a smile of triumph.

Just as the pain begins to fade Bella realizes he's done. The tears immediately begin to fall, running a river of regret down the sides of her face. She clenches her jaw as she swallows trying to hold it in. She rolls uncomfortably to the side, searching for her discarded clothes. "Oh my god what have I done?" she gasps, as she finds her panties.

With a shock, Jacobs emerges from his post coital haze, glancing towards Bella, her body jerking with the motions of getting dressed. "Bells, hey, what's wrong?"

Bella flashes a look at Jake as she pulls her pants up her thighs. "What have I done? What have WE done? Oh my god, Jacob. I'm not a VIRGIN anymore! And THAT'S how I lost it? I...I...I...Oh my god we didn't even use a condom. What if I end up...What if we? Oh god I can't breathe Oh...oh... I think i'm gonna be sick." Bellas voice rises higher and higher before eventually stopping as she dry heaves.

Jacob's bliss is immediately replaced with pure raging anger. The expression on his face shows the thoughts of rage in his head. How dare she ruin this moment! How dare she complain about what they did! It was always meant to happen. Yeah, it probably could have been a bit longer but she should have known it would improve over time. No girls first time is great or so the guys tell him. To not worry about her getting off, cause it would never happened. And he knows he didn't use a condom. Cause he knows they're supposed to be together! So what if she gets pregnant! It's going to happen eventually. The sooner the better.

Jacob dresses in a rush, yanking his discarded clothes back on. "God, Bella. You've ruined this. This was supposed to be our moment and you say you're gonna be sick? Jesus fucking Christ, what a way to make a guy feel great."

Jacob ignores the crying girl curled up on the bed as he shoves his feet into his shoes grabbing his keys and pushes himself out the door to his car. He thrusts his key into the ignition, roughly turning it before burning his tires and driving away on a string of cuss words.

~DR~

Heidi pulls her jacket tight over her torso. The cold of the night seeping into the marrow of her bones. With a curse and a kick to her car's tire, Heidi accepts that her ancient Lincoln Continental has finally decided to give up on her. Why couldn't it have waited until she made it to Seattle? Leaning into the passenger seat Heidi grabs her purse before slamming the door closed a little too forcefully; the thud of the heavy door ringing through the silence of the surrounding forest.

Heidi has no choice but to walk to the nearest town, Forks, she believes is what it was called. A sign a few miles back said it was about 10 miles away. Her teeth clatter from the coldness almost in tune with her rapid footstep on the asphalt. Hopefully the couple of miles walk will warm her up. She's hardly made it around the first bend when the sound of a car comes towards her, making her heart leap with gratefulness. Spinning around on her heel, Heidi trusts out a hand, flagging the driver down, shouting, "Please stop!"

Relief washes over her as the car screeches to a halt a few yards away from her before being thrown into reverse and coming towards her. The driver smiles at her as he lowers passenger side window.

"Everything all right there, darling?" he asks, flashing her a dazzling smile. Little does she know that his smile is one of pure anticipation. Like a lamb lead to the slaughter; she's been handed to him on a platter.

"Ah, no, actually. I've had some car trouble. Could you give me a lift?" She offers him a smile, adding, "I promise I'm not a serial killer on anything."

"Sure, hop in," the killer says as he leans over, opening the door to his prey.

"Thank you," Heidi says, as she slides into the passenger seat. "I'm Heidi."

As she closes the door, the killers presses his foot down, easing onto the the road again, looking at his prey. "I'm glad I found you, Heidi." And he means it. He needs to let off some steam and she is the perfect thing needed in order to give him the satisfying high he is craving.

There is a lick of confusion running up her spine at his words but she ignores them, telling herself that this young man, this beautiful man, has to be a good guy. There was no way that her luck could have run out that badly, not as she is about to start her dream job in Seattle.

They travel down the dark twisting road for a couple of miles comfortably chatting, Heidi tells him that she's moving to Seattle from Missouri. She's spilling her life story in a rush of a million words, so much so that she doesn't realise that he's hardly talking. Little does she know, with every cascade of her life story spilling from her lips, his dark hatred for her grows. When they come to a dead stop at a crossroads she stops mid sentence. He's turned in his seat to look at her, his expression darkening.

"Which way do you wanna go? Left or right?" he asks.

"Ah," Heidi replies, confusion making her frown as she points to the sign. "Forks is left, so left."

"That's a pity," the killer says, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

"I'm sorry, what?" Looking around her, Heidi tries to make sense of the growing confusion surrounding this ride.

"Well, you see, Heidi," the killer answers. "If you had said right, It would have been a while before you started getting scared. But since you're going the other way, I'm afraid you're gonna have to start screaming, right about... now!"

He slams his foot down on the accelerator and with a twist of the steering heads the down the right hand fork of the cross roads. Heidi doesn't hold back screaming and with each piercing shrill the killer pushes his car faster and faster, taking each bend at break neck speed his mocking scream mimicking hers.

"Stop the car! Stop the car! Please don't hurt me! Oh God, Oh God..." With sobs, shuddering through her body Heidi pleads for her life. "I don't want to get hurt! Please... please stop?"

And just like that he slams onto the breaks, her body violently thrown forward from the change in momentum. Her head hits the windscreen with a crack and with it her consciousness.

~DR~

When consciousness returns to Heidi, its like all her bodily systems instantaneously fire up. She tries to jerk into a seated position but the pain searing through her from her wrists to her ankles make her reevaluate being vertical. Slowly, tentatively, Heidi tries to bring her hands towards her face only to find resistance keeping them suspended above her head. Fear and confusion war for dominance in her head when she realises that she is stretched out horizontally her ankles and wrists bound by a rough rope, digging into her soft pale flesh and coiling up the length of her appendages.

"Hi there, darlin, so glad to see you've decided to join us for the fun," the killer drawls out as he slides a hand up the side of her body and over her breasts. "Such a beautiful little helpless thing you are." He leans over her to brush some hair from her face as if he's brushing errant hair from a lovers features. His beautiful face is twisted with malice as clear as the full moon above them.

He disappears from Heidi's line of sight but he can be heard talking in hushed tones to someone she didn't even realise had joined them. Hope sparks in the deep, dark recesses of her mind telling her that she still has a chance to survive the madness surrounding her. This nightmare straight from the mind of Wes Craven.

"P-p-please help me," Heidi pleads in a soft, timid voice that is barely audible against the idling sounds of two vehicles nearby.

An answering giggle turns Heidi's blood to ice because it seems so eerily out of place with what is happening around her, mockingly her fear. As if her plea is a joke, as if her will to live is entertaining.

"Awe darling, you want us to help you?" The killer's dark face is above Heidi's again his eyes ablaze with excitement.

Seeing Heidi stretched between the two cars, hope still fluttering across her fear dominated features, makes his excitement build to the crescendo he craves. She is an unexpected sacrifice on a night he needs blood spilt like never before. His anger begs to be released before his patience fails. All the pawns in his well laid plans are ready to play the parts they have been destined to play since that one fateful night a year ago. They each need to pay their pound of flesh... or blood, for the role they played in his loss.

Brushing a finger along Heidi's tear streaked cheeks the killer flashes a broad smile, his white teeth in contrast with his dark features and the dawning truth of reality. "My mother always said that women were much stronger than men. Let's see how right my mother was."

With those final, fateful words, the killer disappears and silence stretches all too long before the muffled thud of two sets of doors can be heard. As the vehicles can be heard slowly accelerating, Heidi's body is pulled in opposite directions. A scream escapes from Heidi as the pain of her shoulders being pulled from their sockets crashes over her, a violent shock of pain radiating through her entire being.

Toying with their prey, the killers slack off, slowing their cars before slamming their feet down on their accelerators in what almost seems like a well choreographed stunt. Agony and pain filled screams fill the night before suddenly ending as Heidi's body is ripped in two; the cars speeding away from each other before skidding to a halt.

With the thrill of his newest kill coursing through his body like a drug, the killer gets out of the car. He smiles at the separated body parts littered on the black pebbled asphalt. Crouching down, he dips his hand into the blood dripping red from Heidi's torso. He rubs his fingers together savouring the stickiness on his skin before bending down to write across the white line separating the lanes.

~DR~

Charlie pulls his car to the side of the road, stopping as his front bumper hits the yellow caution tape strung across the road. His eyes take in the scene before him. Detectives making notes. Crime scene analysts taking photos. His eyes are drawn to the suave looking man talking to one of his deputies.

Something about the history Charlie had with Carlisle Cullen made the whole situation not sit well with him. As a cop he knows he must put that aside and look at the facts, but that proves harder and harder to do when each new death brings back memories of his own loss.

With that thought, Charlie pulls himself from his car and walks straight past Carlisle, skipping conversation in favor of checking out the scene first.

Charlie comes to a stop next to the top of a female torso. As he kneels down to look at her face, his body casts a shadow across her remains, as if trying to cover the horror of her gruesome death. He doesn't recognize her which worries him immensely. If strangers are being targeted by this killer, then all bets are off. If strangers are being victimised, there is no rhyme or reason to these killings. Or could the similarities be there and he's just missing them?

Charlie stands as one of his deputies walks closer. Charlie raises his head in the direction of where Carlisle is still giving a statement. "What's the word on that?"

His deputy glances over his shoulder." made the call. Apparently he was driving home from Seattle when he came across the body, or what remained of it." The deputy alludes to the dismembered body strewn across the asphalt. Charlies mind is a whirlwind of thought. Too many coincidences is the one that seems to be racing around the most. He nods to the deputy, silently excusing himself before continuing walking along the centerline. A short distance away he finds the word SACRIFICE spelled out in bloody letters between the two halves of the unknown woman's body, confirming that it is going to be a long night.

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**Punk AN- Are you still with us? Has our blood and gore chased you away? No, you say? Then let us know!**

**Angel****AN- ****Well... uhm... have we lost you, won you back? Please leave us a review and see if we can get my damn muse to kick up a gear.**


	10. Chapter 10

Punk A/N -hello writing mojo we missed you. Seriously huge bloody thanks to those who have stuck with us and our amazing wink who took on this ch for us!

Angel A/N - Well, well, well, lookie here another chapter so soon? Lets just say the reviews we have been receiving have definitely fueled my muse back to excitement. Thank you so very freaking much to KatieWinkles. And a HUGE thank you to my fic wifey for the awesome tumblr inspiration! Now let the killing begin.

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CHAPTER 10

THURS 25th FEB

"They thought they could do it without being caught. But when we do something naughty, we are always caught. Then, we are punished. Punishment is absolute, punishment is good." - Mother Superior, 'Silent Night, Deadly Night'

"Woohoo, good one!" Quill cheers Embry on as another bullet from his father's stolen .45 meets its demise in the row of beer cans.

"Shhh, keep it down. Do you want us to get caught?" Claire slurs from her spot on the blanket with Leah, too drunk to realize the firing of the gun is louder than Quill's exclamations of delight.

The girls are sipping from their respective beers as they watch their boyfriends shoot the empties off of gravestones.

"Oh hush yourself, Claire! No ones out here." Embry squints and sways as he raises the gun, his aim impeded by his drunken vision. The bullet ricochets off the top of the stone.

"Well I don't care. You don't want Chief Swan to come bust us, do ya?" Claire tries to argue. Both boys just laugh, ignoring her drunken retort as they continue shooting at the cans.

The couples are out, drinking under the twilight sky surrounded by the gravestones of Forks' small cemetery. The gray markers are evenly placed, like soldiers in a parade to death. Even though the town was placed under a mandatory curfew the day before, these typical teenagers are living off the high of disobeying the law, believing themselves to be immortal.

Just as the loud clink of another can bouncing off the headstone echos through the silence, a moving shadow in the trees catches Quill's eye.

"Dude, did you see that?" he whispers to Embry.

"See what?" Embry aims once again but as he shoots the empty gun clicks. "Shit, I'm out."

"There in the trees." Just as Quill points towards the row of trees lining the back of the cemetery the leaves rustle again as if some unseen force was shaking the tree.

"Fuck, it's probably a deer or something. Here, reload me and we'll go take that shit down." Embry passes the gun back to Quill as they walk toward the blanket the girls are still sitting on. The idea of actually hunting something adds a thrill to his boring night.

"Dude, you cant take a deer down with a .45."

"Just load me up and watch me, dipshit." Embry's inebriated brain isn't willing to back down.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Leah asks.

"Quill saw a deer in the forest and I'm gonna go take it out. You wanna watch, baby?" Crouched next to her, Embry nuzzles into his girlfriend's neck.

Leah tries not to laugh in her boyfriend's face. "Whatever, you can't even hit those cans, what makes you think you're gonna take out a moving object?"

With that, a rush of testosterone runs through Embry's blood, his innate need to show his girlfriend how much of a man he really is taking over from logic. "Watch me. Gimme the gun, Quill." Embry reaches behind him as he keeps his eyes on his girlfriend, showing her with a look that later she will be his to hunt down too.

Embry and Quill make their way towards the trees on unsteady legs, both showing the effects of the copious cans of beer they have ingested as their girlfriends trail behind.

Just as they reach the row of trees, Quill tugs at Claire's hand and pulls her towards him. "Hey, lets go this way," he whispers, his head nodding in the opposite direction that the other two are heading. He has the twinkle in his eye that Claire knows all too well, that glint that can only mean one thing. As if confirming what she already knows, Quill presses himself into her hip with a gentle nudge. "Hey, we'll catch up to you two," he calls after Embry and Leah as they continue walking into the forest.

"Whatever, fuck head! I'm gonna go catch this shit so don't take too long." Embry is set on his mission to show Leah he can kill whatever is that's wandering around out there.

Claire giggles as they walk away. Quill tugs her towards a low lying willow tree. He places her back to it before leaning in. His hands cup her face as he brushes her lips with his. His hands eagerly tug at the button on Claire's jeans. Her hands keep pushing him away in attempt to get him to stop. The actions half hearted at best.

Quill backs off just enough to whisper. "Come on baby. You're always saying how you wanna do it outside. Here's our chance. No ones around to see." His tone is low and husky in an attempt to try to seduce her into getting what he wants.

The alcohol in Claire's system is just enough to break down her inhibitions and get her to bend to his will. She stops batting his hands away and lets him continue. She moves in to kiss him again as her eyes droop shut. Claire's hands glide up Quill's arms and drape over his shoulders letting him unzip her pants. Their kiss deepens just as his fingertips make contact with her cotton panties.

A sound makes Claire's eyes pop open. With her mouth still attached to his Claire can only squeak out at what she sees. Quill thinks shes enjoying it as his fingers delve clumsily through the curls under her panties. A little too late he realizes something is wrong as Claire freezes, her muscles locking up as if suddenly turning to stone. He pulls back just far enough to see his girlfriends eyes widen and her mouth open as if to scream, but no sound escapes, she's just frozen in fear.

~DR~

Hidden under the shadowy canopy of the trees, the killer's eyes sparkle with anticipation. A thrill of apprehension licks over his skin like a shiver caused by the touch of frost on a winter night. He'd been biding his time for this night for so many months, planning, scheming, waiting for the perfect moment to exact his revenge on the sheep he is stalking now. Keeping himself in check by promising himself that patience will be rewarded. The killer stays as far back from his prey as possible as he follows the drunken fools into the forest. Their drunken stumbling making such a ruckus he would have found them with his eyes closed if he hadn't already been watching them for the last hour.

Like a predator of the night, the killer steps silently between dried leaves and over broken branches so as not to alert his prey of their impending demise. The corners of his mouth turn up in a wicked smile when Quill and his whore break away from the others. Things couldn't be happening more perfectly if he had arranged for events to unfold himself, with suggestions and prods here and there the killer had set this night up. He'd been the one to suggest the little get together and soon they will be punished for their irresponsibility.

His grip tightens around the helve of the axe as he looks at the fumbling couple awkwardly kissing against a willow tree. His growing hard on isn't from seeing them kiss and fondle but rather from the thrill of anticipation coursing through his veins, spreading through his bloodstream like pure unadulterated lust. The hunt is foreplay. The kill is the rush. Death is what it is all about. The moment of pleasure that brings him closer and closer to the apex of revenge.

As if knowing his thoughts, an arm wraps around his waist, petite fingers wrapping around his shaft to add to the pleasure of the building thrill. His little vixen has always know exactly what he is thinking, it's like she has always been in his head. Like she knows where his thoughts are going before he himself has even made a conscious decision. It's the one thing that drew him to her all those months ago. When everyone else thought he was melancholy and consumed by his family's loss, she knew that he was already formulating his violent vengeance. Deliberately he places his hand over hers pushing her palm firmly against his cock, almost groaning at the sensation.

Turning his head towards her he presses a kiss against her ski-mask covered lips in a pledge that there will be more later. Letting go of her hand he calculatingly takes a stride forward and steps on a fallen branch, breaking the dried wood with an audible crack that echoes through the forest.

Claire's horror filled expression is a deathmask the killer wishes he could preserve and guild in the finest gold, the perfection of her wide eyes and gaping mouth would be a pleasure to display in his house of horrors. But as much as the killer wishes he could draw this out, make them suffer, his patience is spent and in one swift movement he brings the pick axe up in an arch before bringing it down. The sharp point breaks through the back of Quill's skill, cracking his occipital bone open like the shell of a freshly boiled egg, before exiting through his mouth and into Claire's gaping, silent scream. Death leaves their bodies with twitches and spasms. The only thing keeping them up is the ax that is still lodged into the trunk of the willow tree.

~DR~

Leah is getting more and more annoyed by Embry's fake bravado. Why the fuck he has to stumble his drunk ass around in the dark to prove his manlyhood is beyond her. She knows he's all talk and no action. He's more likely to piss himself than shoot a deer. But she's appeasingly playing along in an attempt to not emasculate him any more than she usually does.

"Embry, hold up." Leah places her hand on Embry's shoulder in an attempt to stop him. The sound she heard ringing through the forest sounded like a crack of a metal whip. "Did you hear that?" Leah asks, frowning her concern.

"What," Embry laughs, "you scared of a little night hunting?"

"No, you idiot," Leah says before cracking him one behind the head. "Something's not right. QUILL? CLAIRE?"

When no answer comes Leah grabs Embry's wrist, tugging him towards her and back in the direction they came from. "Come on, lets go find them."

"But we're hunting." Leah's expression alone makes Embry acquiesce, he learnt long ago to do as his girlfriend said if he ever wanted to see any action. "Okay, okay."

"QUILL? CLAIRE? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" Leah calls as her and Embry stumble their way through the dark forest, straining to see with the limited light the moon is getting through the canopy of leaves. They don't notice that its gone eerily silent. Not a single sound can be heard, its like all the nightlife has been scared off, sent running for their lives into the dead of night.

"Quill, dammit, don't be dicking around!" The feeling that something is wrong is niggling at Leah's subconscious like a repressed memory trying to break free.

"Clai-" Leah almost chokes on her words as she steps around a tree to find their friends pinned to a tree, blood trickling from the gaping hole around the logged pick ax. With both hands clamped over her mouth, eyes wide with sickening horror, Leah looks at her fiends lifeless bodies, dangling like raggedy Anne dolls.

From behind the tree two figures come into view, like inky shadows fading into sight. One large, one small. Both wearing ski masks with what looks like antlers sticking out from the tops of their heads. Behind Leah, Embry laughs, thinking this is one hilarious practical joke; but Leah knows this is no joke. She can smell the metallic tang of the freshly spilt, dripping red blood. When the smaller of the two monster raises their hand a beam of light is reflected from the silver metal of an ax like the warning a lighthouse gives the sailors before their demise. Adrenalin flashes through Leah's blood in an instant, urging her to action her body instinctively knowing she needs to flee. Pinpricks running along her limbs as if to urge her into retreat.

Stumbling backwards, Leah slips in the pool of blood around her friends falling to the dirt covered ground. With legs kicking, she pushes herself back, trying to get back up but slipping again. The killer watches for the briefest of moments as his vixen brings the axe down, lodging it in Leah's eye. The agony of cheek bone splintering steals the last of her fight out of her and all she is able to do is raise her arms over her head in a futile attempt to beg for her life.

"No, no, no."

Leah's gurgled attempted pleas provide a soundtrack to her murder. Each blow or the ax, shatters her arms as they try to protect her head from the heavy blows of the sharpened blade. The vixen enjoys splitting Leah's skull, she's lost in the fervour of each blow to Leah's pretty face as it turns to red pulp, brain matter joining the splatter of life force coating the surrounding trees and the pale bodies of Quill and Claire.

The killer would have liked to savour the sight of his vixen getting coated in blood but the moment Leah scarmbles backwards is the moment Embry realises that what he thinks is the prank of the century is in fact horror way beyond his comprehension. Embry doesn't even for one moment consider saving his girlfriend, his true colors win over chivalry and bravado the instance he turns to run away in an attempt to save his pathetic life.

Unfortunately for him, escape is not an option and fortunately for the killer Embry is too drunk to find true survival. In a flash the killer pulls the pick axe from Quill and Claire's dead bodies, throwing it through the air. As the axe spears Embrey, his body is lifted off the ground and his head is lodged into a tree with a dull thud, bark falls to the ground like brown snowflakes as haunting silence returns to the forest.

~DR~

It has been three days since Jacob had ran out on Bella. She is still torn up about everything that had happened. Hell, she not a virgin anymore and as much as she was eager to give her virtue to who she believes is the sunshine of her life, she isn't so sure anymore. Since the town is still on lockdown per her dad the great sheriff, Bella is beginning to feel like a prisoner in her own home. Her dad even has her escorted to a from Rose and Alice's houses when it got to be too much and she needed out. But not tonight. Tonight she snuck out and went to the one place she knows she can clear her head and organize her thoughts. Her secret place of peace and solitude during a turbulent time of loss and senseless violence.

Bella brushes the few stray leaves off the top of her mother gravestone. She slinks her body down till her back rests against the side of the stone. She closes her eyes and takes what feels like the first deep breath in weeks.

"Hi mom," Bella says on an exhale. "Sorry it's been so long but things have been crazy around here. Dad's, good. I think. I mean I don't really see him much lately with all that's happening but I know that's not his fault."

Bella continues talking, her head tilted up to the sky. She shares everything about Jacob and everything that has been going on in their relationship.

"And then there's this other guy mom. Edward. He moved here after you were gone so you never met him but, he's...different. I don't even know how to explain it. I barely know him really but at the same time every time were near each other I feel just, drawn to him. I feel like something inside of me knows him and is trying to pull me to him. When I'm near him I just feel at peace. I feel safe. Ugh, I just don't even know how to explain it. I'm so confused mom. I really wish you were here."

Bella finishes off her conversation feeling better than she has in weeks even though she got no response, no resolution for the tumultuous emotions brewing inside her. Sometimes just verbalising her emotions and experiences is enough to give her momentary peace. She kisses her her fingertips and brushes them against the top of the headstone as she stands up. With her hands in her pockets and her head down she leaves the cemetery lost in her own thoughts. The chemical smell of a cigarettes makes her head rise.

Sitting two graves away is Edward, watching her. He jumps off the headstone he was perched on as he sees her notice him.

"Hey, I saw you but you looked kinda lost in your own world so I didn't wanna interrupt you." Edward looks sheepish as he snuffs out the smoke with the heel of his boot.

Bella can't help but smile when she realizes she is actually glad to see him. A true, friendly face. She wonders where he's been and why she hasn't seen him lately but then remembers with the city shut down they have been stuck in doors anyways. The house arrest the town seems to be keeping friends apart.

"Nah, it's fine. What brings you out here?" With her palm facing up, Bella gestures in a circle to the cemetery around them.

"Visiting, you know just had to get away." Edward answers as honestly as he can, he isn't ready to tell Bella about his family's deep dark secret. "This lockdowns got me going a little nuts. I like the outdoors. I don't like being stuck in my house so much."

Sprinkles of rain have begin to fall guiding Bella unconsciously over to a big Oak tree providing cover by decades worth of branches. She sits on the ground leaning against the trunk, patting the grass next to her. Without hesitation Edward joins her.

"Yeah, I think this lockdowns got everyone going a little stir crazy. Like a month long full moon, ya know," Bella jokes.

Edward nods towards where Bella just came from. "So who were you visiting? You looked pretty deep in conversation there."

Bella's eyes follow to her mothers grave. "Ahh, my mom. I come out to talk to her when I need to figure things out."

Edward nods along, like he gets exactly what she's talking about. Like he understands loss and the unexplained need to still talk to those lost.

"It's nice to have someone to talk to. I mean, I can't even talk to Jacob about my mom. He always shuts me down the moment she comes up. It's so frustrating. So with everything going on it's nice to come out here. Course, I had to sneak out of the house so God knows what my dad will say when I get home."

Bella stops as she realizes how much she has just revealed to edward. She can't remember another time she told someone that much about herself when they hadn't really even asked for it first. She's once again drawn to the fact that theres just something about Edward that makes her want to open up.

"Yeah, I get it. There are people in my life, no longer there either. It's nice to have someone to get all those thoughts out with. Even if they aren't able to respond."

Bella looks at Edward, really looks at him for a moment as if for the first time noticing the hauntedness of his eyes. She can tell he's truly sympathetic to what shes saying. Not in the usually way that Jacob would be, only hoping to get her to be quiet and move on so he can get what he wants. Bella realizes in that moment how much things have truly changed between her and Jacob. When she finds that she feels happier sitting here with Edward than she has with Jacob in a long time.

Sitting huddled closely under the ancient oak tree, they continue talking for a bit longer, random subjects spilling out. There are no uncomfortable moments or extended silences, the conversation doesn't dull for one moment. The conversation is easy, comfortable like well worn jeans. After some time, Bella looks out to realize the rain has broken.

"The rain seems to have finally let up," Bella says as she pushes herself up off the ground. "I should get home before my dad gets the entire police department up in arms and looking for me."

"Want a lift?" Edward asks, his keys already in his hand.

With her arms wrapped around herself, her palm rubbing up her goose pimpled flesh in an attempt to warm herself, Bella nods, "Yeah, sure."

The cold night wraps around Bella like a blanket, making her shiver for a moment before a warm jacket is draped over her shoulders. She offers Edward a small smile in thanks before heading towards the old wooden cemetery gate.

Bella frowns as the feeling of being watched washes over her. She turns her head looking over the deserted cemetery to find nothing but headstones but the feeling persists. She can feel eyes on her. Deep down in her gut she knows someone is there, watching from a hiding place amongst the monuments to death. She doesn't know where and she doesn't know why but she can feel it deep inside in the same way she knew something had happened to her mother before getting confirmation that fateful day.

Holding the door open for her, Edward waits for her to slide into the passenger seat and as the door closes she is grateful to have a ride home and for once not be alone.

~DR~

Chief Swan's eye's scan back and forth taking in the gory display before him. All of his years on the job and his fair share of violent scene's pale in comparison to the sight of teenagers' mangled bodies strung up between the otherwise peaceful gravestones. Limbs are stretched wide as if waiting for the embrace from a lover who was supposed to save them. This mass scene of death is enough to make even the most seasoned cops blood run cold and makes it clear to even the most rookie of cops that the killer is enjoying his handiwork.

"Any idea who they are Chief?" Seth asks from his position next to Charlie.

"You're guess is as good as Mine," Charlie replies as he takes a step in the direction of the macabre message in an attempt to get a closer look.

By just looking over the bodies Charlie can't be sure who they are. Their faces violently erased like the lives they were peacefully living. He will have to wait for dental records, or looking over the condition of the bodies more likely fingerprints, before knowing who these poor unfortunate souls are.

Charlie walks along the line of stretched out, pale corpses noticing that each victim is missing a single item of clothing from their torso. The blood covered breasts of the two female victims make that clear as the fact that they were killed violently; bloody words are etched in blood on each victim's skin.

Charlie's gaze moves from one body to the other reading the killer's most recent message.

FOR-PROTECTING-THE-WHORE

The name chiseled into the stone the last body is tied to is what makes Charlie freeze, his eyes widening.

Renee Swan.

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PUNK A/N- OOOOOO few more clues? Anyone figure it out? everyone ready to wrap up the final climax….Itsssss cominggggg

ANGEL A/N- The end is nigh! Final days are here! Who's excited?

Here's a little something-something as reward to those of you who have been spending this long journey with us. The first reader to guess correctly who both killers are gets to pre-read the next chapter before we post it. So hit the review button right there and tell us who you think is out for blood?


	11. Chapter 11

Punk- Lets keep this simple cause I know you wanna get on with this one. Its a doozy!

Angel - The big day has arrived. Now go read. And thanks to our beta's, readers and muses!

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CHAPTER 11

Saturday February 27th to Sunday February 28th

"What's the point they're all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door, it's insulting." - Sydney Prescott, 'Scream'

"Mmm you like that, huh?" Jessica keeps placing wet kisses along his neck as she slowly makes her way down his body and towards the ultimate prize. And what a prize he is. She has been lusting after him since the day they hit puberty. Since the day he went from icky boy to delicious man. She kneels slowly, making sure her enhanced chest is brushing against him every inch of the way down. She figures her daddy paid for them, she might as well use them every chance she gets. Its not like she's ever going to get anything else from her loser father.

The whole doing it in the open of the park is bringing out an exhibitionist side of her that she didn't even know existed. He grabs her ponytail and jerks her head to the side with a tug, exposing the cord of her neck to him. She thinks that she's in charge, but she's wrong, he is always in charge and this is a show of power. Power that is fueling him each and every step of the way, like a shot of pure caffeine to the system.

"Get naked," he whispers in a deep growl an inch from her ear, the heat of his breath fanning across her skin. Her shivers of anticipation confirm what he already knows, he has her turned on and ready to do anything he commands her to. She is a lamb being led to the slaughter. She's completely oblivious but he's completely disgusted with her and just wants to get on with the show already, he wants to splatter his message of disgust across the park in her blood. She readily begins stripping, removing each item of clothing all the while trying to do it with a sexy pout. By the time she's down to her bra and underwear she's so turned on that she doesn't even notice as his hand reaches behind his back and unsheathes the heavy hunting knife.

Jessica's eyes widen with surprise and horror as the sharp blade is plunged into the soft flesh of her crotch at the exact moment she steps into her lovers embrace. Instead of euphoria, pain laces through her body and a scream erupts from her kiss swollen lips.

"You are such a dirty, little fucking whore!" The killer spits into her face. With a jerk of his arm, the blade cuts her open, the gash moving higher and higher as crimson blood seeps out of her wound, coating his hand in her sticky life fluid and running down her naked flesh in a river of red.

"Mhh, you like that, huh? Fucking cunt!" With one last jerk, the killer flays her open like a trout before stepping back and letting her crumble to the dirt covered ground. With futility she gasps for breath at the same time as she grasps hold of her spilling intestines in a bid to get them and life to stay with her. With a final, blood soaked splutter, she slumps all the way to the dirt, her pale, blue hued lips still gaping open as if waiting for a dick to be pushed inside.

With his head tilted to the side and a small smile curving the corners of his mouth up, the killer savors his latest kill. Blood is dripping red from his fingertips, leaving perfect circles in the dust.

~DR~

Alice clasps her hand tighter around Jaspers arm, her fingertips digging into the pale flesh of his bicep as if she's scared of the darkened park. Jasper thought it was a nice idea to go for a walk tonight. Alice and him really needed the time to reconnect with everything that has been going on. Their dinner at the diner was the first pleasant time they've had alone in a while. He hasn't failed to notice that recently, most of their time is either spent having sex or fighting. They have no problem being passionate with each other that's for sure, but it's everything else that has been causes issues.

A faint whistle further down the walkway of the park catches Jasper's attention at the same time Alice squeaks next to him, both her hands circling his bicep now. He notices something laid across a bench a few steps ahead of them next to the path. The weak, flickering lamp post overhead barely illuminating the shape, causing it to be too dark to tell what they are looking at. With a hand around her small waist, Jasper tugs Alice a little closer to him and just as he realizes what he's seeing he pushes her behind him in an age old move of protection.

Laid out naked before him as best he can guess is a female, dead. Her entire front is cut open revealing her insides to the cold, night air. The word "WHORE" appears to be slashed into her side in violent gashes, gaping its message to the world. With nervous curiosity, he brushes back the hair obscuring her face and realizes he knows exactly who she is. His hand covers his mouth with trembling fingers. He's not sure if it's to cover the gasp coming from him or hold in the bile threatening to escape. Before he is able to make sense of what is laid out before them, a figure emerges from the shadows behind the bench. Jasper stumbles backwards, until the figures face becomes visible in the weak light.

"FUCK! Jacob? What the fuck dude?!" Jasper bends over forwards, taking slow steadying breaths before swallow the load of bile pushing up his throat and willing his frantic heart beat to settle down. But his body doesn't get a chance to return to normal when he sees the blade in Jacobs hand glistening with fresh blood.

"What? What the hell, Jacob? What's going on?"

Jacob stands silently, enjoying the panic that is spilling from Jasper like smell of weed that always follows him around like a cloud of THC. An evil grin crosses Jacob's face as he looks from Jasper to Alice's small form hidden behind a protective Jasper. Every instinct is telling Jasper's muscles to spring to action and to run, to escape the insanity that is unfolding in front of him. He turns quickly and as he takes his first step in the direction of freedom and safety he grabs alice's hand, shouting, "Run, Alice, fucking run!"

Jasper is suddenly jerked backward and he realizes that Alice is standing her ground, not moving an inch, stalling their escape. Frozen with fear, Jasper assumes.

"Come on Alice! Come on baby!" Jasper implores and tries to jerk her towards him again but she still doesn't move, her eyes are trained on Jacob, a small smirk forming on her lips. Alice's hand is outstretched in front of her, her palm up in a silent request. Jasper's head swivels back and forth between the two before he tries to jerk his hand away out of Alice's grip.

Confusion is debilitating and with shock Jasper realises that Alice is able to yank him back to her. In a split second Jacob places the knife in her outstretched hand but before Jasper can free himself from her hold she sinks the blade into his chest, the bones of his ribs audibly breaking as the blade forces its way into lung and suffocation immediately grabs hold of him, his lung no longer able to keep itself inflated.

Jasper clutches at the gaping wound in his chest as he tries to understand what is unfolding in front of him. Jacob has closed the distance between him and Alice, his hand plunging into the velvet ropes of her hair before jerking her head back violently. As Jasper wants to shout for Alice to run, to free herself from this madman they believed to be their dearest friend, Jacob crashes his lips to hers. His kiss is one of familiarity and ownership, devouring her like that of a well known lover.

At that moment, Jaspers knees give out, either from blood loss or from his broken heart at the sight of the two most important people in his life betraying him.

When Alice breaks the scorching kiss to look at Jasper kneeling in front of them, her eyes are filled with lust and insanity enjoying the sight of Jasper kneeling in front of them like the gods she believes them to be.

"Why, Alice?" Jasper begs, needing to know not only why they are murdering their friends but why she has deceived him.

"I got tired of always waiting for you!" Alice passionately tells Jasper before turning her gaze back at her lover, following him as he walks to stand behind Jasper.

"You broke my heart, Alice, " Jasper says through a gurgled sob. With a smile on her face and a small nod of her head she gives permission to her lover before he slashes the knife across Jaspers throat, the blade cutting through the cartilage of the esophagus like its silk cut with a samurai sword. Warm blood drenches the front of Jaspers shirt in a deluge of crimson cascading down his body. As his life drains from him, his body follows the pool of blood to the ground, slumping forward.

Alice's eyes close as she inhales the air filled with the scent of death that surrounds her and her lover. Her lips curl up in a grin as she feels nothing but pleasure course through her veins. She knows somewhere inside of her she should care about the body laid limp before her, but all she feels is pure unadulterated giddiness knowing their plan is one step further on the road to greatness.

Alice's eyes open to see Jacob still standing before her, hand still holding the dripping knife, soaked with the evidence of the last bite of life. The sight is enough to send her over the ledge. She needs to feel him. All around her and inside of her, she courses with need. Her hands meet her lover's broad shoulders as she lifts her body and wraps her limbs around his muscular body as tightly as possible.

Jacob's hands grab on to Alices hips and pulling her roughly to him. Their lips mould together as Jacob lowers them to the ground. He lays her along the ground and makes quick work of the buttons on her shirt, needing to touch her velvet skin.

His eyes take in her creamy skin bared to him in the lampposts faint light.

"My naughty little minx. Are you bare under here?" Jacob breathes, as he trails a finger down her body.

Alice's eyes sparkle with mischief. "Well, that's good thing about having tiny tits, no need to cover them up."

Jacob flicks open the sides of her shirt to reveal two pale pink nipples. Pushing each side together he grins up at her face. "Well, you know what they say, more than a handful is a waste."

He punctuates his statement by taking each nipple in between his teeth in turn. Alice's head archs back as her pleasure is finally met.

Jacob pulls back and notices Jaspers lifeless, pale face staring back at them, like hes watching the show post mortem. His cock twitches in his pants at the thought. Like posthumous 'fuck you'. Jacob reaches over to the blood pooling on the ground next to him and drags his pointer finger through the coagulating pool. Alice's breath hitches as she watches his movements. They lock eyes as he drags his finger from her neck straight down her chest and under the top of her pants. Shivers course through her as she takes in the mark he has made, a bloodied sign that she is his, blood tying them together like nothing else ever could.

Her body can't take much more, the killing tonight has ramped up everything, every sensation bulding towards a crescendo, she needs to join with her lover and come. The extra blood pumping through her veins gives her the strength to flip their bodies, pushing Jacobs body directly into the blood soaking the back of his shirt. Alice takes control, in turn claiming him with all of her body.

~DR~

Charlie popped another two aspirin out of the bottle that seems to have become a permanent fixture in his uniform pocket. He stares out his windshield as the recording of the latest 911 call plays out of the speakers of his phone.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"There's….oh my god….theres so much blood…..theres….."

"Ma'am, ma'am where are you?"

"The park...by the bathrooms. On a bench, they're just laying there."

"Who's laying there?"

.Wracking sobs can be heard coming over the line.

"I dont…..I dont know. There's just so much blood. I think their dead."

"Ma'am, I'm sending help. Stay where you are."

Charlie hits end on the recording, silence taking over the interior of the car. Cracking his neck and taking a deep breath he exits his police car and heads down the path way into the park.

The all too familiar fluttering yellow caution tape leads him to yet another chapter in the gruesome history of Forks.

Laying naked, as straight as an arrow on top of a park bench, is a female victim. Cut open from pelvis to chin, her intestines spill out of her onto her chest and the cold, hard ground. The lack of pooled blood clearly indicating that she had been killed at a different location then moved here. But why, that is the question.

Turning his head slightly up the pathway, Charlie follows a trail of blood and scuff marks to where a very familiar face lays on his back. Jasper's hands are arranged on his chest as if he's covering his heart in a gesture of heartfelt yearning or loss. Like his heart had broken the moment his life had been brutally stolen from him. Charlie lowers himself onto his haunches to get a closer look at Jasper Whitlock, another of Bella's close friends. These crimes were starting to hit way too close to home for Charlie.

With an expression as serious as the situation surrounding them, Charlie's deputy Seth takes a step towards him.

"Hey, we just got an anonymous tip," Seth advises, as he leans in closer as if trying to keep the information a secret as if saying it too loudly would spread like the gossip around town. Seth's actions peak Charlie's interest. An anonymous tip in his small town? Somebody saw something is what Charlie's years of police work tell him and in a town this small it was only a matter of time before people started noticing boogey men hanging around parks even if those boogey men turn out to be the town drunk or a neighbor they've had a feud with for generations. He stands up to give Seth his full attention.

"What is it?"

"Well, apparently someone was seen walking out of the park shortly before the bodies were found."

Charlie's hand waves in front of him in a circling motion, silently telling Seth to continue, urging him to spill the details and stop stalling. "Edward Cullen was seen leaving, sir."

Charlie's stomach does a backflip that would make a Russian gymnast jealous at the admission. He swallows hard but the ball in his throat remains lodged where it is. He looks Seth pointedly in his eyes, ordering, "I want that boy in the station within the hour, is that clear?"

Charlie glances over to the latests victims of this senseless massacre, their lives ended in this peaceful park way too violently, way too soon. With a resolute nod, he turns on his heel and walks back to his police cruiser. As he heads to the police station Charlie once again makes a vow to put an end to all of this. Edward Cullen and his family have done more damage than they should ever have been allowed to.

~DR~

"Charlie, don't you think this is just a bit ridiculous. You have no reason to call us in, except for a grudge." Carlisle Cullen looks nervously between his son sitting next to him and the Chief of police sitting across from them.

Charlie's voice stays remarkably calm, considering the tempest of emotion boiling inside him. "You tell me Carlisle, my son is not the one seen leaving the scene of a crime. Add to that the other two crime scenes he was at and you've got my probable cause." He makes his point looking at Edward whose eyes haven't left the dulled tabletop separating them.

Carlisle's hand slaps the surface in anger and frustration. "Damn it Charlie! Like I said I don't know who made this ridiculous call but Edward was at home in his room all night. I would know if he left!"

Charlie remains still. "Well, then, Carlisle where were you all night?"

The men have a silent standoff, each of their gazes sparking with anger, their eyes boring into each other. Charlie finally breaks it, his body losing some of its fight as he takes in the scared expression on Edward face.

"Son, you say you weren't there. I want to believe you. But I need to look into every call we get. I want to get to the bottom of this for the sake of this town."

Edward remains unmoving, his eyes on the table, a frown etching across his forehead. The only motion being his thumb nail scratching back and forth across the arm rest.

Charlie grows desperate. He wants to leave this room with something to go on, some new direction for them to go. He reaches for the last straw.

"Been to see your brother lately, Edward?"

"That's it we're done here! If you're not charging my son with something were leaving now." Carlisle pushes back from the table, the legs audibly scraping across the linoleum floor as he yanks Edward up by his arm. Charlie knows he pushed the line and silently lets them walk out of the interview room without a damn thing he can do.

~DR~

Bella stares at the candle in her hand, melted wax trickling down the side onto the cardboard border. Her thoughts are lost in the yellow glow of the flickering flame. She's surrounded by people who are supposed to be her closest friends, yet she has not felt this alone since her mom died. Slowly Bella pivots her head to look over the sea of flickering candles. Tears are streaming down the cheeks of almost every person there, couples are huddled together and families are trying to make sense of their loss.

The candlelight vigil was a last minute event arranged by the senior class of Forks in an attempt to help everyone grieve for the loss of two more friends. Standing at the edge of the sea of grieving people, Bella finds Edward, his expression hidden by the shadows of night. As she offers Edward a sad smile in greeting Jacob's arm tightens around her possessively. As Sarah McLachlan's Will You Remember Me finishes its last chord, friends hug and the group starts dispersing in silence.

Bella turns to Alice who is standing wide eyed with unshed tears, staring towards the empty bench where Jessica and Jasper were found. Plush toys, flowers and notes filled with grief and condolences cover the rain weathered bench. It has become a monument to loss not only to those who perished here but to everyone who have lost their lives in the last couple of months.

"Alice, are you going to be okay?"

"I'm fine," Alice says with fake chipper in her voice. "I'm wonderful."

Before Bella can question her, or even offer a friendly hug Alice skips off towards her family. With a frown, Balla watches her go, thinking that everyone deals with grief differently. Alice obviously deals with it by pretending like nothing is wrong. Leaving Alice to grieve in her own way, Bella turns back to Jacob to find that he's disappeared.

"Typical," Bella mumbles, as she makes her way towards Rose and Emmett. "Hey, have you guys seen Jake?"

"He said he had to bounce Bellabean," Emmett tells her, using one of the many ridiculous nicknames Emmett has been torturing her with for years. "How about I be your knight in shining armor, ladies, " Emmett asks, grinning broadly at Rosalie and Bella, "and escort you home?"

"Sure, Baby," Rosalie answers, patting his cheek before giving him a wink. "And if you're good, I might even reward you."

"Hell yeah!" Emmett bellows, drawing a few nearby gazes in their direction. "Let's go," he instructs, as he holds his arms a little away from his body for them to hook their hands into.

With a girl on each side of him they set off towards Bella's house the short walk punctuated by silence, each of them unable to verbalise their shock at the loss of their friend. When they reach Bella's house she slips her hand out of his arm before heading up the couple of steps to the back door.

Opening the door she turns back to her friends, "Be safe okay?"

"We will," Rosalie assures her with a wave of her hand. "No one will get past my bear here."

After a quick wave Bella closes the door, flipping the latch to secure it. The silence of the house is her first sign that Charlie hasn't come home yet. Usually by now he'd have a Mariners game blaring from the TV or some boring fishing show, but like every other night the past couple of months the house is entirely silent. The second sign is a note that is stuck to the cooler door with a magnet of the Seattle Space Needle.

Working late, sorry. Home soon, I promise. Please make sure you lock up. - Dad

A few minutes and a grilled cheese later, Bella heads up the stairs to her room. The overdrive of emotions the past couple of days have drained her of all her energy reserves and all she can think of is getting into her heavenly bed and be swept away to dreams of better places, better days.

Bella's heart nearly jumps out of her chest when the back door suddenly blows open with a loud bang as it hits the wall. She all but flings herself down the stairs and onto the landing, confusion and fear dueling for dominance in the list of emotion vying for attention in this moment.

Bella is sure she locked the door the moment she stepped inside. Maybe she didn't but she's so sure she remembers doing it, just like Charlie told her. Or maybe the exhaustion that has been creeping up on her has finally done a number on her head. Cautiously, tentatively Bella makes her way back towards the door, her senses on high alert as she looks around the kitchen and into the dark night outside the door. Her hands are shaking as she reaches for the door.

"Boo!" a whispers comes from behind her as an arm comes into view in her peripheral vision, the silver glint of a hunting knife casting a reflection onto her face. With a scream, Bella automatically reacts bringing her elbow back just like Charlie taught her. The grunt from behind her, telling Bella that her aim was true. Instinct takes over as Bella's muscles coil, bunching tight before she sets off running out of the back door and into the cold, dark night.

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Punk AN-So did we lose anyone with kinky lemon there? Hope not. Who's ready for a finale? Cause its time for the big finish.

Angel AN- Oh no, not Jasper! Who hates us, who loves us and who saw that one coming?

**Congratulations to AmeryMarie for getting the killers right. **


	12. Chapter 12

Punk - a lot of surprise it seems. Glad we shocked a few. Thanks for sticking around and giving us all your awesome theories! Angel - Thank you all for your awesome reviews. We're so stoked that to most of you at least part of our killing duo was a surprise. This one goes out to AnnemarieV for reminding me that the chapter needs to be shared. **Warning: Due to a few challenges in the lives of our usual Beta's this one hasn't been checked. Apologies to those of you with spelling, grammar and comma OCD. We didn't want to wait any longer so this is what you get. Enjoy.**

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**CHAPTER 12**

**Sunday, February 28**

_We all go a little mad sometimes. - Norman Bates – Psycho_

Bella has barely stepped out of the back door when she collides with a hard body. Without thinking, without even looking at who the person is, Bella reacts on pure instinct and punches both palms into the person chest, in turn surprising them and pushing them off balance.

"Bella!" Edward exclaims, as he loses his footing and tumbles to the ground in a very uncoordinated sprawl. He looks like the last thing he expected to see was Bella steamrollering out of her house and straight into him, not to mention the fact that she's basically just put him on his ass with her self defence movements.

"Edward?" Confused, Bella stares down at him before looking back up the stairs into the darkened, empty kitchen. Where she was expecting to find a knife wielding fiend, is nothing but emptiness.

"What are you doing here?" Bella's voice hitches a little as she questions Edward, his sudden appearance adding to her general feeling of freaking-the-fuck-out.

"I was just making sure you got home okay and… ah, I was… ah, fuck," Edward stumbles over his own words, dragging his hand through the tangles of his rich brown hair. "We didn't get a chance to speak at the vigil so I wanted to come by and check on you but the light was off when I got here and well, I didn't want to interrupt or anything so I was keeping an eye from outside when I heard you screaming."

The awkward deluge of words tumbling from Edward only serves to endear him to her even more. Bella knows that he has been watching her from afar, having been there more than a few times when she expected to be alone. More and more memories have been coming to her over time. Memories of seeing him around the edges of her life, on the outside, yet slowly becoming part of her.

Edward pushes himself up off the ground, dusting some soil off of himself as he takes a step towards Bella. Looking over her shoulder into the empty recesses of the house he asks, "Are you okay? What's happened?"

Nervously, she looks over her own shoulder again. Shaking her head a little as she turns back to him, confusion at what had just happened setting in.

"I thought someone was in there."

**~DR~**

Charlie's cruiser slides on gravel as he slams his brakes down, stopping in front of his house. The small group of teenagers gathered on his front stoop is enough to make his heart jump until the sea of teenagers seems to part and his daughter becomes visible. He quickly makes his way up the pathway, his steps faltering as he sees the figure to the right of his house hidden in the shadows of the night. Edward Cullen illuminated only by the glowing cherry of a cigarette.

Charlie continues, making a mental note to ask Bella about his presence but first needing to make sure his only child is safe.

After Charlie nearly hugs her to death, squeezing her to him, Bella quickly explains what happened after she arrived home. She tells him about the fear that took over and had her running out the door and into Edward who had come to check on her. His question about Edward's presence answered. She explains how she called her father the second things had settled down, followed by her friends, in an attempt to surround herself with as many people as possible, her built in metaphorical safety net.

"You really think it was just a coincidence that you came home and got attacked and Cullen just happened to be outside to rescue you Bella? I dont like it." Charlie shakes his head while staring at Edward at the side of the house. He hasn't moved any closer since all her friends arrived but he can't make himself leave until he knows Bella is safe either.

"Edward had nothing to do with it, Dad." Bella rolls her eyes and shakes her head at the thought, knowing her father is just being super overprotective and she doesn't blame him in light of what has just happened.

"Oh really, well maybe I will just take him back down to the station and figure that out for myself." Charlie ups the scary police role to punctuate his point.

"Dad STOP! I just know he had nothing to do with it. Just let it go, I know him Dad and he's been nothing but nice to me." Bella feels sorry, as she apologetically looks over at Edward, knowing it's awkward for him to be standing all alone but with Jacob's hand tightening around hers, tells her his presence any closer wouldn't be welcome. Sadly, she realizes she would rather be back there sitting alone with Edward than be surrounded by the people circling around her. She mentally questions why she even bothered to call her friends to her rescue, realising that fear makes one act in an illogical manner.

Charlie can't help but blow up at his delusional daughters words. "You know him? You think you know him Bella?" Bella shrinks back at the veracity of her father's words. Charlie has never been one to even raise his voice at his daughter, so this response is surprising to her. "If you know him so well, do you know why Edward and his father are here? Has he been honest with you about himself, Bella? Has he told you about his deep dark family secret?" Edward's spine straightens as Charlie's voice reaches him. His instincts tell him to grab Bella and run. He doesn't want their secret out there. Specially not like this, he wanted to be the one to tell her. He was just building up to the moment where they trusted each other enough to deal with the secret together. He had planned to tell her soon, but with all the death and murder around town other things were more important. Desperation radiates off his body in waves of emotion. His lungs feel like he can't fill them enough to breathe. The truth suffocating him like it has been for months, more and more with every passing day. "Riley, Bella. They're here for Riley!" Charlie shouts angrily. The fight leaves his body the moment he sees his daughters eyes widen with abject horror. "Riley is Edward's brother." Bella's hand covers her mouth, her gasp joining a chorus of surprise around her. Her eyes jump to the side of the house just in time to see Edward melting into the darkness as he runs away from her. "I can't get into this right now. I have a meeting with the FBI at the station. You kids need to head on home. Jacob can you stay with Bella?" Charlie looks at his daughter, her expression of shock the only thing he gets from her, not even an argument or a pleading look for him not to go. His last thought is of not wanting to leave her but he knows he can trust her with Jacob. Each of her friends lean in to hug and murmur their goodbyes to a stock still Bella. Jacob ushers her inside as they all take their leave. Bella's feet find their own way up the stairs as Jacob locks the door behind them and turns to follow her upstairs. Bella shakes herself from her stupor at the sound of his foot steps. Her sudden halt on the stairs stops Jacob mid step. Her hand held up before her has him stepping back. "Just... I wanna be alone Jake, I'm going to bed. Stay if you must. But I don't wanna talk." Bella hopes that Jacob understands the the mere mention of Riley is too much for her to bear on top of everything else that had happened today. "Yeah, sure Bella, whatever you say. I'll just make myself comfy on the couch. I'll be right down here if you need me." Jacob tries to sound the ever supportive boyfriend. He takes the rouse a step further by stepping up to press kiss her forehead. "Get some sleep babe. " Jacob watches as his girlfriend walks up the stairs and shuts her bedroom door before walking into the living room and popping the television on, the volume deliberately dialed up.

**~DR~**

FBI agent Jason Jenks sits in the Chief of Police's office getting more aggravated by the minute. He was supposed to meet with the Chief over thirty minutes ago to go over the cases but he called with some or other family emergency. Jason knows he is considered a low man on the totem pole and that really this is his first lead on a case but he figures he should be treated with just a bit more respect by a small town police chief. Just as he decides he is going to leave and call later the chief enters his office looking quite frazzled, the valley of frown line on his forehead deep trenches of worry.

"Everything okay there Chief Swan?"

Charlie looks up in a daze like he's just noticing the man standing by his desk. "Agent Jenks, no, not really." Charlie hangs his jacket on the back of his chair before taking a seat at his desk and laying out the file folders of each death. "My daughter was attacked in our home." Jenks stands suddenly at his words. "Attacked? Is she alright?" "Uhh, yeah... yeah." Charlie nods, distracted by his own thoughts. "I checked it out. Whom ever it was disappeared. She's shaken up but she's fine." Jenks sits back down slowly as it seems there's no reason to be overly concerned if Charlie calm response is any indication. "Okay, lets look at these." Charlie flops down pictures of the messages from each scene. FUCKING THE WHORE STICKS AND STONES WILL BREAK YOUR BONES

WORDS WILL ALWAYS HARM YOU

DIDN'T TRY TO SAVE HER

SHOULD HAVE PICKED A DIFFERENT ROOM

ONCE A WHORE ALWAYS A WHORE

THE WHORE'S COHORT

SACRIFICE

FOR

PROTECTING

THE

WHORE

"You boys at the Bureau make any sense of this?" Charlie knows he's just a small town cop but to him there's no rhyme or reason to the deaths. He thinks the messages are just some way for the killer or killers to throw everyone off. But he's interested to see what the big baddies from the FBI have come up with. "Minimal at best. We believe we're dealing with two killers. The scenes, the bodies, manners of death, all lead us to believe its a male and a female. They get some type of high off the death. They're not shy about making a show of it," Jenks explains. Charlie grows agitated. "Well, that's all fine and dandy but do you got anything for us to actually go on? You know, something that would actually help CATCH these guys?" Agent Jenks can't help but be slightly ashamed. "Nothing, no useable prints or fibers at any of the scenes to point to anything of use. The most we have is making sense of the messages. They're not random thats for best bet would be to try and figure out who the 'Whore' is they keep referring to."

Charlies fingers steeple in front of his face in thought as he nods his head in agreement. "I just wish I knew what piece of the puzzle we were missing."

Jenks looks through his notes. "There's something else, Chief. The boy who was at more than one of the scenes, an Edward Cullen was it? What else can you tell me about him?"

Charlie doesn't know what to say or even where to start. His instincts tell him the case surrounding Edward is more than a coincidence but something about the look on his daughters face makes him think maybe it really all has been an unfortunate misunderstanding. He has always trusted Bella's instincts, he hopes she isn't being led astray now. Neverless he decides to be completely honest with the Agent. "He and his family recently moved here. Mediocre student, musical genius I'm told. His dad's respected in his job at the hospital." "Recently moved here? Not many people just move into a small town in my experience Chief. Doesn't that seem odd to you?" "Well they didn't JUST up and move here as you think. They have connections to one of the prisoners at Callam County Correction Facility. They have been trying to build evidence to prove his innocence." Jenks eyebrows raise in question. Charlie huffs a breath knowing it will only bring on more questions. "Riley Biers. Convicted of murder last year." Jenks mouth drops in shock, mainly wondering how this fact seems to have by passed his own guys. "Riley Biers? As in the same Riley Biers convicted of murdering your wife Renee Swan?" "One in the same." Charlie whispers, as he rests his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. "How exactly is it that this hasn't come to light until now?" "Because Riley and Edward have different father's so different last names. No one has been able to make the connection. They asked me to keep it low key and I didn't believe there was a reason to let the information come to light. My daughter went through enough during that court case, if she knew….." Charlie chokes up, knowing that it's out now and his daughter is once again at the center of their anguish, no thanks to him. "If she knew they were trying to prove Riley's innocence, well I just don't know how much my little girl could handle." "I think your little girl is stronger than you think Chief Swan." Jenks stands up taking his stack of files with him. "For now I would like you to bring to me anything having to do with any person of interest in this case. We're not going to catch these guys if we're not working together," Jenks orders as he stands from his seat opposite Charlie. "I'm headed down to the morgue, I have a meeting with the Coroner to discuss our latest arrivals." With that Jenks walks out of the the office leaving Charlie with the onslaught of thoughts about the past, present and bloody deaths.

**~DR~ **

With a microphone in hand, Jason Jenks stands looking down at the cold, stiff remains of Jessica Stanley. Talking into the microscopic mike, Agent Jenks starts his report.

"Victim is a caucasian female approximately seventeen years of age. Scar tissue under both her breast from previous breast augmentation surgery. Cause of death suspected to be the wound running from her vagina to the larynx. The wound is of such a nature that the victim was disemboweled. The edges of her wound are clean and with no jagged ripping of flesh indicating that the weapon was sharp. A hunting knife is suspected." As Jenks presses the small red button to stop the microphone from recording, a high pitched giggle of a little girl can be heard echoing through the morgue. With a frown Jenks looks around trying to decide if his late night and lack of sleep is finally catching up with him. Just as he looks down at Jessica Stanley again the sound of a pig snorting is heard coming from behind him. His head whips around trying to find the culprit. "Damn small town hicks," Jenks mumbles, thinking it's just someone playing a prank on him. Before he is able to turn back to the autopsy table a black body bag towards the end of the room moves briefly, as if the body inside is wriggling. With a frown etched on his features Jenks makes his way towards the body bag, as he moves closer the bag moves again. Slowly Jenks bends down, getting a little closer to the bag in an attempt to figure out what the hell he is hearing, when his ear nearly touches the cold covering the same high pitched giggle filters through the pvc of the bag. _Who the hell would let their daughter play in a place like this?_ Jenks wonders as he straightens up. With shaking fingers, Jenks hand slowly reaches out for the zipper and with a rapid tug he opens the bag, the two edges opening wide to reveal a petite teenager. Eyes wide with the shock of his discovery, Jenks offers her a hand, helping her out of the dark confines of the bag. "Thank you," Alice says, smiling wickedly at Jenks. "I was starting to think I'd be stuck in there forever, you took so long. I really do hate waiting." Blinking Jenks just stares at her, unsure of what to make of the situation. Why is this beautiful pixie here? Before Jenks is able to ask his question a thick, muscular arm coils around his throat, cutting off his air supply. Flailing, kicking, fighting Jenks futilely tries to free himself from the vice grip of the person behind him and just as his consciousness starts fading to black his body is lifted off the ground the sound of his own neck being snapped the last thing that registers with Jenks before his life is snuffed out.

Without any effort Jake slams the sagging body onto the top of an autopsy table, the last of Jenks remaining trapped air whooshing from his deceased lungs at the impact. Jake's fingers close around the flame sharp scalpel, picking it up before turning to Alice with a smile.

Opening his palm, Jake offers her the blade as if offering her his most precious, prized possession.

"Would you like to do the honors?" With a smile on her face, she shakes her head saying, "I have a better idea." Alice takes the scalpel from Jake, closing her fingers around the hilt before taking his hand with her spare and placing it over hers the way couples hold a knife together on their wedding but instead of cutting into a cake, Alice guides Jake's hand to slice through Jenks button down shirt, carving their dripping red message into the soft flesh of his torso.

**~DR~**

The echo of footsteps running down stairs rings through the deathly quiet morgue as the coroner returns from the offices above. "Hey Jenks, I've got the file on the-" As his foot hits the landing on his bottom he looks up, his thought interrupted by the sight in front of him. Gasping the coroners hand flies to his mouth as if the movement will stop his meatloaf dinner from spilling out of him. Jenks' body is spread open on an autopsy table. his chest spread wide, the gaping emptiness like a shocked, gaping mouth staring back at the coroner. Around Jenks' pale, stiff body, carefully arranged are each of his internal organs, morbidly displayed. Once red blood has dried thin trails of rust down Jenks wax like face. Wide eyes follow the trail of blood up to Jenks' forehead to find one word written in thick bloody letters - PIG.

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**Punk AN-gosh I hate waiting don't you? ** **Angel AN - Hmmmm, well now. Your thoughts?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Punk - If your still with us after all this time and blood shed I bow down to you.**

**Angel - This roller coaster is hitting the crest and about to come spiralling into a vortex of cray-cray! Thank you to my sick lit wifey PunkFox for sticking with me and being patient while my life steals me away. And thank you to all of our regular readers who are still with us after all this time, through this epically bloody journey. Welcome to all our new readers, hope you enjoy our bloody child.**

**Warning: We've decided to go ahead and post the last few chapters without beta, purely because we're on a roll and so eager for bloodshed. Apologies to those of you with spelling, grammar and comma OCD's. Enjoy.**

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**CHAPTER 13**

**Wednesday, March 3**

_Bad luck isn't brought by broken mirrors, but by broken minds. - Dr. Frank Mandel, Suspira_

"Ah fuck. Mmmm shit baby….thats it…..harder!" The muffled screams of Rose lost in pleasure can barely be heard from her position of face down in a pillow. Emmett positioned behind her giving her exactly what he knows she likes.

"Oh you like that huh? *grunt* my baby likes it rough doesn't she?" Emmett rambles on as he smacks his hips into the creamy rose flesh of his girlfriends backside. As great as the pleasure he gets from fucking his girlfriend he gets his real pleasure from the view around him. The mirrors surrounding his room show off the view of his bed from every angle. Emmett has always been an exhibitionist and never shy about his body. Its why him and Rose work so well. She doesn't mind it one bit.

Emmett pulls out mid stroke, much to Roses displeasure. "Roll over baby, show the camera those great tits." Emmett positions himself so the camera he has set up to the side of them has a new view of the action.

Rose shakes her head but humors her man knowing the quicker she gets in position the sooner she can get off. Emmett doesn't hesitate to slide right back into his favorite honey hole and go to town. He leans back on his thighs to hit her right into the spot sure to make her come, while giving him an awesome view of her tits bouncing before him.

"Fuck yeah baby. You take it. You take this cock."

Rose nearly wants to laugh at the words but part of what she has always loved about Emmett is his lack of shyness specially when they're fucking. She knows his odd ramblings are part of what turns him on.

Rose grabs on to one of his wide biceps with one hand while the other glides down to feel his abs flexing as he pounds into her.

"That's right Monkey Man, you give it to me."

Emmett grins down as he braces his arms on either side of her shoulders ready to bring it home. A noise breaks his concentration enough to look up into the mirror above his head. A flash of color in his cracked closet door is enough to make him stop and squint his eyes.

Emmett has time to utter a low what-the-fuck before he rolls off Rose and attempts to pull her with him off the bed.

Hidden in the dark confines of the closet, Jacob clutches the coal hilt of the Bowie knife he'd chosen specifically for this kill. He'd been hunting Emmett and Rosalie for weeks, watching closely, learning their behaviors. What he found only reinforced his hatred for the couple. They are mindless fuck bunnies, always going at each other. Egotistical, self obsessed Emmett can hardly keep his cock in his pants long enough on a normal day and having people dying around him seems to make no difference to his libido.

The bitter taste of hatred coats Jake tongue as he prepares to go in for the kill. His veins strumming as excitement coils his muscles and Jake lunges from the closet, the blade swooping into a arc; but at the last moment Emmett sees the killer in the mirrors and rolls off Rose. Without anything between her and Jacob the blade sinks into her naked, puckered breast. Skin tearing open in a beautiful display or muscle and blood blooming like a flower, a flower Jake loves to force open. The scent made for a killer.

Jake pulls the blade from Rose's breast pulling his arm high above his head again, preparing to finish her but her survival instinct has kicked in and she rolls away. Making a beeline for the bedroom door.

"Oh no you don't Blondie!" Jacob exclaims, as he dive rolls over the bed, grabs ahold of her arm and swings her with all his might into the mirrors surrounding the bed. The tinkling of broken glass like a melody of death as the glass shatters and falls in a sparkling cascade to the carpeted floor.

The gurgling sound Rose makes as she clutches the gash running down the cord of her neck can almost not be heard over Emmett's shout, "No, fuck! Rosalie!"

On quivering legs, Rose tries to escape the confines of the room of death again, but she makes one small step only before looking up at Emmett, the sadness in her gaze fading as life pours from her. The blood seeping from her wounds has coated her naked breast in a layer of red.

Jake watches with satisfaction, the gooseflesh spreading across his body a sign of the exhilaration this kill is giving him. He loves seeing blood dripping red from his victims as they realise they are not as immortal as they believed.

One more gurgle can be heard, bubbling from her pale lips before her legs give out and she crumbles the the ground, to lay in a pool of her own spilt blood, sprawled naked, her limbs twisted at unnatural angles as if her bones were instantaneously turned to mush. Violent death has a way of making even the most beautiful look gruesome in their passing.

Jake doesn't have a moment to enjoy the beautiful sight of Rose's naked, bloodied body before Emmett emerges from his shock and lunges for him. At the last moment Jake ducks under Emmett's huge arms, spinning around to cut a diagonal gash down his back. Before Jake can get in in another blow, or get away far enough Emmett connects his elbow to Jacob's masked face.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Emmett hollers,lunging for Jacob again.

"Not if I kill you first," Jacob replies, confidently, stepping out of Emmett's way, leaving nothing but empty space. Jake has known Emmett for enough years to know that he's strong but Jake also knows that Emmett isn't skilled. Jake has been laying in wait, biding his time by learning as much as he can about fighting and anatomy. Preparing for this fight. Preparing for revenge.

For each blow Emmett swings at Jacob, he has a response, muscle memory helping him as much as his wits. As Jacob swings the blade to lodge it in Emmett's gut, he's surprised when Emmett swats it away with enough force to make Jacob loose the Bowie knife. In one quick organised move Jacob ducts down to grab a shard of glass from the floor. At the same time he swings his foot to hit Emmett behind the knees, knocking him off balance. Emmett's big bulky form comes crashing down onto shards of glass. The pain of couple of dozen of cuts into his side makes Emmett scream out and if that isn't exactly what Jacob needs to fuel him, give him that last boost of energy to finish his prey.

Without regret, remorse or hesitation Jacob stabs Emmett in the chest, stomach and face with the shard of glass he is clutching, thankful that the leather gloves he wears during his kills protect his palms from the sharp edges.

In agony, Emmett continues to fight, unwilling to give up his life he kicks out. His large foot finds purchase when it connects with Jacob's groin.

"Fuuuuuuck you!" Jake shouts, as he drops the shard of glass to cup his aching, agony exploded balls.

Emmett doesn't wait for a gilded invitation, but takes the gifted opportunity. He forces his body off the ground and out of his bedroom door, a trail of blood following him as he moves down the stairs and out of the back door into the yard. Having no nearby neighbors Emmett knows that his escape isn't over yet. He has to keep going. He has to keep running. He has to survive. Frantically, Emmett looks around trying to decide which way to go, not realizing that Jake has come up behind him.

The retrieved Bowie knife in his hand, Jake wraps his arm around Emmett's neck at exactly the same moment he sinks the sharp blade into Emmetts back. Jake stands like that, arm around Emmetts neck, blade still plunged into the torso, holding the lifeless body upright while catching his breath. Taking in deep breaths, savoring the metallic tang of blood on the air. Savoring his conquest. The challenge was most satisfying but all too soon the trill of the kill is over and Jake shoves the body away from him, letting Emmett's lifeless body fall to the lawn like a felled tree.

**~DR~**

Bella shakes her head glancing at the clock next to her bed seeing that another hour has passed. She keeps losing herself in her own thoughts and it's beginning to drive her a bit mad. Before, her thoughts were always centred around her mother and the killings in town; but now, now Edward has taken over her thoughts. From morning, noon to night he is all she can think of. Heck, she thinks, they have done little more than exchange a few words and yet all she can think about is his eyes and his lips. What it would feel like to have them both on her. She has never in her life felt the type of connection she has when she is near him. Her body heats as she scrolls through the contacts on her phone her fingers hovering over the bold E listed between _Charlie _and _Emmett. _He said to call if she ever needed anything and right now she can't help but admit she just needs him. She presses send before she can second guess herself. When the generic voicemail message pops up she taps the end button and drops her phone into her lap.

With a frustrated growl, Bella decides escaping the confines of her house is the only way to feel better. She just needs to get out of her head for a few minutes and what better way than to head to Rose's in the hope that she has some type of chemical assistance for her.

Even though she knows Charlie is at the station, she still finds herself padding down the stairs quietly. Her house feels so empty lately and that just adds to the loneliness Bella feels spreading deep in her chest, her heart at the center of it. Before she can think too long about it Bella slips into her boots and jacket and makes the trek three blocks over to Roses house. She finds herself looking over her shoulder as she goes. Whether its the fear of her father finding her or the fear of the dark masked stranger that makes her do it, she doesn't know.

Inky darkness is surrounding Rose's house as Bella makes her way up the walkway. Bella figures no one is home but rings the doorbell a few times anyways.

"Damn it Rose!" Bella groans to herself. "Where are you?"

Bella blows a deep breath out as she twists around to look up and down the dark street. If shes not home Bella can only figure one other place Rose would be during a time like this so she sets out once again. This time towards Emmett's place.

**~DR~**

In stark contrast to Rose's place, Emmett's two story is lit up like a Christmas tree with what looks like every single light in the house turned on. The front door swings open when Bella knocks on it, the sound of the door creaking echoing through the silent, bright house.

"Rose?" Bella calls as she steps over the threshold. "You here?"

Standing in the middle of the den Bella rotates around, trying to figure out where everyone is when she hears the faint sound of music coming from upstairs, from Emmett's room. For a moment Bella isn't sure if she wants to interrupt what they're no doubt doing, but something is niggling at the edges of her consciousness. Something just doesn't feel right. So instead of heading back out the front door, Bella heads up the flight of stairs.

Knocking softly on the bedroom door, Bella turns the handle and slowly pushes the it open.

"Guys? You in here? You decent or am I walking into an X-rated movie?" Bella asks with a giggle, as she pushes the door that last bit open.

Bella's hand flies to her mouth in a feeble attempt to catch the gasp coming from her. Laying sprawled in a pool of crimson is her best friend.

"Rose, no no no no no!" Bella flings herself to her friends side, sobbing, the knees of her jeans getting coated in the stick, coagulating liquid. Rose's body is scattered with little cuts almost everywhere Bella can see and littered around her are thousands of sparking pieces of.. what? Bella reaches out to pick up a piece of broken glass and she looks up to find the empty frame of what use to be a life size mirror.

A thousand thoughts and questions are running through Bella's mind as she looks around the room, from the disheveled bed to towards the dresser where a video camera is perched. Her movements are almost automatic as she pushes up off the ground to take the camera in her hand, still recording. Her thumb, at its own accord, presses the red record button stopping the device before rewinding it for a moment before hitting play.

The image that pops onto the little screen punches Bella in the gut with the force of realisation that only something as brutal as this can pack. Emmett, obviously naked, fighting a masked assailant who is dressed from the top of his head to the tips of his fingers in black. The last thing Bella sees before dropping the camcorder on the bed, is Emmett's elbow connecting with the masked murderers face. The same masked face Bella has seen inside her house.

An instant dumping of adrenaline sparks her flight reaction, as she steps back in the direction of the bedroom door Bella's eyes lock on Rose's pale body to see carved on the soft curve of her stomach -

**YOU R NEXT B **

**~DR~**

"_Hey Charlie, this is Thomas McCarty. The Missus and I are in Seattle for the weekend and we can't get ahold of Emmett so I was just wondering if you could run by our house and check in on him?"_

Charlie cuts the engine of the cruiser as he stops in front of the McCarty house. He doesn't have time to think over the message he received from Thomas McCarty early this evening before the front door of the house is thrown open as if a hurricane just blew through and a body hurled down the stairs.

Charlie's hand immediately reaches for his holster before he pushes his door open.

"Stop right there!" Charlie orders, his voice stern and commanding as he raises his gun at the shadow moving towards him.

"Daddy!"

Charlie barely has time to react and lower his gun before his daughters arms wrap tightly around him, her body quivering like a leaf shaken in a tempest.

"Bella, baby, what are you doing here?"

Bella's whole body wracks with shudders as sobs break free, she tries to catch her breath.

"Daddy….they….oh my god, Daddy... Rose!"

Charlie pulls his phone out, dialing as he ushers Bella back into his car.

"Hello?"

"Jacob, I need you to come get Bella from the McCarty house NOW!" Charlie skips the pleasantries and orders before pocketing his phone and hugging his daughter tighter. "Bella, baby, I need you to get in the car."

Charlie is able to push Bella into the passenger seat of his cruiser, shutting the door behind her before joining her on the other side. Bella sits staring up at the house. He reaches across the center to grab her hand to pull her attention to him.

"Baby what did you see? What's in that house?" Charlie asks, dread washing over him because if Bella's expression is anything to go by, he knows exactly what she found inside.

"Oh, Daddy." Bella's voice chokes up thinking about the sight that greeted her in that house. "Rose, she's dead, it's bad Daddy. It's so so bad." Bella breaks down in sobs again, her hands covering her face as if she's trying to ebb the flow of salt tears pouring from her in grief.

"Bella, was anyone else in that house?" Bella is barely able to shake her head just as head lights cross over them. "Okay, Jacob's here. I want you to go home and not leave that house for any reason until I get back okay?"

Both exit the cruiser just as Jacob gets out of his own car. "Jacob, I want you to take Bella home and stay in the house until I get back. Do NOT leave her for any reason, understood?" Charlie's tone is clipped, punctuating the seriousness of his orders. The teenager don't have a choice. THey have to do as he tells them now. He needs his only child safe.

Jacob nods wide eyed at Charlie. "Sure thing, Chief."

Charlie watches until Jacobs rear lights disappear down the street before turning back to the house behind him. He radios into his chest speaker. "Seth I'm gonna need back up at the McCarthy House. On the double."

**~DR~**

Bella barely remembers the drive home or even notices Jacob as he follows her into her house. It's not until she's inside, door shut behind her and she flips on the living room light that she notices his appearance, gasping at the sight of him.

He's completely disheveled from head to toe. But it's the very obvious freshly forming black eye under his eye that makes her pause.

"Jacob your eye! What happened?" Bella's fingers barely have time to ghost over the apple of Jake's cheek before he ducks down and away from her reach.

"Oh you know us guys. We were bored and blowing off steam. One guy gets too heated and-" Jacob motions to his face, as if in explanation.

A memory flashes through Bella's mind as Jacob moves further into the house.

The memory of Emmett's naked body squaring off with a masked killer comes to Bella, chilling her to the core of her existence. Emmett's elbow very obviously hit the killer exactly where Jacob has a fresh bruise.

"I'm gonna make some food you want anything?" Jacobs voice drifts through the small house as Bella stands frozen in the entryway of her house. Her eyes locked on the small back pack Jacob must have dropped by the door when they entered. Her eyes flash between the bag and the doorway Jacob recently disappeared through.

"Yeah, sure, I could eat. I'll be right there." Contrary to the shudders threatening to debilitate her, Bella tries to keep her voice steady in her response while also inching her way towards the bag.

Bella kneels down, slowly, silently, reaching for the zipper, inching it open. Her eyes close and she takes a deep breath before pulling the two flaps open. Her breath catches in her throat as the mask laying in the shadows of the bag comes into view.

"Now, now." Bella jumps, falling onto her butt as Jacob's voice add to her shock. He shakes his head in a condescending manner, making a tsk-tsk sound with his tongue on his teeth. "I always knew you could be a nosey little bitch but now you've just ruined the surprise."

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**Punk AN - OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO yeah that just happened…...anyones heart racing or is that just mine?**

**Angel AN - Oooops! An evil, evil cliffie! See that little review button right there, yes that one. Now hit it and let us know what you think. Is she done for? Is there anyone you want to see killed before we wrap this bloody puppy up?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Punk -It is with a long over due deep breath, we present the last chapter of this horror. We always promised we wouldn't give up on it and now here we are. Thank you for every person who helped this story come out of us and every person who was willing to take the chance to read it. Hope it was worth it in the end.**

**Angel - First of all I would like to thank Punk for starting this journey with me a little over two years ago. So much has happened in the last two years and yet Punk never gave up on my very bad habit of letting life get the better of me and steal me away from killing off a few characters. Thank you for hanging in there and knowing when to push me towards a computer. I think part of why it has taken me the longest to get this last chapter out is the fact that this really is the last chapter in more ways than any of you will ever know.**

**Thank you to each and every one of you who contributed in any way to get this story out there. From our Beta's who fixed our bad language to our readers who left very awesome reviews and reactions.**

**This story is NSFW and sated M for extremely graphic violence. If you are not older than 17 then please close your browser. But if you're a lover of all things bloody, join us for this the crescendo of Dripping Red.**

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc are the property of their respective owners. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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CHAPTER 14

Wednesday, March 3

A boy's best friend is his mother. -Norman Bates, Psycho

"What are you talking about Jacob?" The quiver in Bella's voice can be heard from her position on the floor, this time there's no way of hiding it. She doesn't even have to wait for his response before the gaps in her memory begin to fill, unasked questions are answered in an instance.

She remembers every time she couldn't get ahold of him. Some days he would suddenly disappear and then reappear just as quickly. Sometimes for brief moments and other times for longer. He always had an excuse and Bella always readily accepted his word. But now? Now she sees how little he really was around. Especially when she needed him, and always before a body was found. It had to be a coincidence. But deep in her soul Bella knows she is wrong.

"She's thinking, she's thinking." Jacob's sarcasm laced voice comes across plain as day. He's teasing her. He knows how much he has done all this time and Bella has been none the wiser. He watches with a grin on his face as the different emotions cross hers. "Ahh, ahh, ahh she's getting it now."

"But why?" Bella's chest constricts, air puffing from her chest. Shortness of breath takes route as she tries to make sense of it all. "Why would you do it? I mean...Jasper?" The sobs in Bella's throat break free. It doesn't make sense in her mind. How could Jacob be capable of all the horror that has been occurring. "He was your FRIEND!"

"Oh Bella, Bella, Bella. This was supposed to be so different." Jacob calmly says and inches closer to where she is crouched on the floor. Bella matches him move for move, in turn moving further away from the backpack. Eventually Jacob steps right next to the bag, keeping eye contact with her the entire time he bends down and slips his hand into the zipper opening it further.

A sinister grin unlike Bella has ever seen before crosses Jacob's face as his hand emerges again. Gripped in his fist a glinting knife. Jacob looks down at the knife before slowly looking back at Bella. "Member that night at the bonfire Bella? When Jasper was talking about the rules?" Bella just stares at him wondering where hes going with the questions. " ….well someones not a virgin anymore."Jacob's sing songy voice sends chills down Bella's spine to lodge in her gut and she swallows the bile that threatens to rise in her throat.

Jacob suddenly lunges at Bella with the knife and Bella acts on pure instinct, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she swivels away and flees towards the front door.

The door opens without resistance, swinging open to bang against the wall. Bella releases the door knob and launches herself across her front yard in a dead sprint.

Just as Bella rounds the hedges surrounding her neighbors yard she slams into a brick wall. Her attention firmly on the pursuing danger behind her, Bella didn't notice the person coming towards her. Edward grabs onto her arms to steady her before she can slam into the ground.

"You know we really have to stop meeting like this Bella." Edward tries to joke but immediately grows serious when he sees the wild look in her wide eyes, she looks like a gazelle running away from a lion.

"Bella what's wrong?" His eyes follow Bella's as she looks behind her, frantically searching for danger. The sight of Jacob stalking down the walk swinging a large knife is enough to make his balls constrict and make their way into throat. "FUCK!" Edward looks back the way he came from and sees the shadow of someone walking down the road. He wraps his long fingers around Bella's wrist and yanks her behind him as he starts to run towards the shadow.

"Hey! Hey! Hel-" The scream for help lodges in Edward's throat as Bella slams into him when he comes to a dead halt. Edward immediately knows this person will be no help to them. Alice drags the blade of a large machete down the street behind her leaving a creepy scratching sound in her wake. The sounds seems to echo in the silence of the empty street like a song of coming death.

Edward freezes knowing they can't move backwards towards Jacob yet they can't move towards Alice. Just as Edward looks around for an escape from the two psychos boxing them in, Alice swings the machete up in a practiced move and lunges towards them.

As the rusted blade arcs its way towards them, Edwards ducks shoving Bella out of the way with all his force in barely enough time to avoid the certain pain Alice is so focused on inflicting. His lithe athletic body turns to kick Alice in her shins. With a sharp cry of pain, Alice loses her balance and her grip on the machete. There is no conscious thought except for survival. Edward does not consider any repercussion or consequence when he tightens his grip around the hilt, firmly plants his feet on the ground and plunges the long blade as deep as it will go into the center of Alice's chest.

Unexpectedly Alice giggles, her demented laugh ending in a gurgle as dripping red blood spills from the corner of her mouth before her gaze dulls and body goes limp. Shock makes Edward release the blade, the metal clattering on the cracked asphalt.

"Oh fuck, fuck me," Edward mutters, taking a step backwards without looking, he trips over Bella's splayed legs.

All Bella can do is look on in shock and disbelief as Edward impales a feral Alice. Alice her friend, Alice her enemy, Alice her would be killer. Never in a million years would Bella have suspected quiet Alice of the atrocities this town has experienced. Alice always forgotten seemed to be so cheerful, so content on the sidelines. Maybe Bella was wrong, maybe Alice finally found a way to be noticed.

As Alice lays on the ground before them, an anguished bellow of anger comes from behind. In all the chaos neither remembered Jacob was still in pursuit of them. Jacob saw everything get taken from him in a fleeting moment of death. Edward has just enough reaction time to grab Bella and swing her behind him just as Jacob sinks the blade of his hunting knife into his gut.

Edwards hand releases Bella's wrist as his body bows from the impact and his hands automatically grab for the knife, long fingers wrapping around the blade impaled into him. Jacob pulls it out, lacerating his victims fingers and slashes across Edward's stomach blindly before plunging it in again on a growl.

Bella can do nothing but scream as Edward crumbles to the ground before her. She tries to run away but makes the mistake of running too close to Jacob who reaches out in time, grabbing her shirt and yanking her back into his grasp.

Jacob's arm, with the knife still coated in Edward's blood, wraps around Bella's chest. His other reaches up and brushes the hair back from her face. "Where do you think you're going my dear Bella?"

Bella continues to struggle and before she can scream again and draw the attention of neighbors Jacob makes a decision. His arm swings up and brings the hilt of the knife squarely down on her temple promptly knocking her out. her body becoming limp in his arms as knowing smile curves his lips, this is the big moment he's been waiting for all these long weeks.

"Lets go home, darling." Jacob mutters as he looks around to make sure no ones attention appears to have been drawn to them, before dragging Bella by her hair back to her house.

~DR~

Bella wakes with a start. It doesn't take her long to realize shes in the basement of her house. The one place she has avoided for the past year. The throbbing in the back of head distracts her just enough to keep her from thinking about her fear of this place. The wisps of hair fluttering around the front of her face block her vision. She tries to move them to get a better view but the clinking of metal on metal tells her that won't be happening anytime soon. The handcuffs around her wrists restrict her movements. The tape across her mouth muffles the frustrated scream that escapes her throat.

"Aww, let me help you with that sweetheart." Bella isn't sure if she jumps from the sound of Jacob's voice sneaking up on her in the barely lit room or the tender tenor of it. It reminds her of how he used to act. Bella can't help but question what of him was ever real. She shrinks away as his fingers brush the hair back from her face and she gets her first full view of him.

"So." Jacob seems almost excited as he squats down in Bella's line of sight. "I think it's time for a story. What do you think?" Bella just silently stares at Jacob watching the glint in his eye dance around. "Let's tell one of my personal favorites. It's about a slut bag whore of a mother who slept with every man in town. Including my very own father. And all the people who protected her."

The air rushes out of Bella's mouth as Jacob rips the duct tape from her mouth. Jacob continues on as the pain radiates all over Bella's face.

"Yup, thats right. And the night my mom died in that car wreck? It was because her and my dad were fighting about your mom. YOUR MOM BELLA!" Jacobs sweet face morphs into unrestrained anger as he screams in her face. Bella closes her eyes and lets the tears escape even as the spit bounces from Jacob's mouth to her face. "Your mother Bel-la is the reason my mother is dead and my dad won't walk again. She's the reason I've been in a living HELL!" Jacob enunciates her name with more enmity that she has ever heard from him.

"She was so angry that night cause my deadbeat father said he wouldn't stop FU-CKING YOUR MOM! She ran outta our house crying jumped in the car to get away from the asshole, but he chased her anyways, and five miles down the road she was dead Bella. DEAD! And my dad's in a wheelchair for life. All because of your whore of a mother." Jacob stops for a moment and lets it all sink in before dropping the big bomb. He's waited for the moment he would be able to look Bella in the face and tell her the truth.

"You know me Bella, I've always been one to get payback. So, since your mom was the reason my mom died. What more fitting of a way than to have yours die by my hands?" Jacob holds his hands out, palms up as if to show her her mothers blood still on them.

Bella's eyes grow wide. Her mind flashing to finding Riley covered in blood kneeling before her mom's body. She was so sure at the time that he had been the one to murder her mother. But now with a clear head and Jacob's words bouncing around in her mind, she realizes she could have been wrong all this time. Sure, she had found him at the scene but she had never actually seen him do anything.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Jacob smirks as he stares at the play of emotions reflected on Bella's face. "How does it feel Bella? How does it feel to know that you put someone away by falsely accusing them of murder?" Jacob laughs condescendingly as the tears keep dripping down Bella's face. "Yeah, I'd say you screwed up."

Jacob paces around the room looking at the ceiling as he continues to tells his debaucherous story. "After you falsely accused Riley, I was free to do as I please. And I thought why stop there? So, I came up with the perfect plan Bella." Jacob stops and leans in to bring his face in close to Bella's. "I set out to inflict pain and suffering and get my revenge on all the people whose stupid existences were the reason my mom died."

As Jacob returns to moving around and around the dim room Bella continues wiggling her wrists. Charlie had taught her as a kid how to get out of police cuffs. It was a joke between them as Charlie used to get a kick out of seeing how quickly his little girl could get her wrists out of the cuffs. Her wrists may have grown but with Jacob's loose cuff job she has been able to wriggle out while he rambled on with his story.

When his voice seems to be fading off Bella looks him in the eye. "But why Alice? Where does she play in all this?" Bella hopes the question can distract him just long enough for her to finish escaping without him noticing that anything is wrong.

Jacob smiles widely, as if Bella has just opened a Pandora's box of his most treasured secrets. "Ahhh Alice. She was nothing but fun for me. I needed the extra help. The extra body. The extra hands. And she was perfectly pissed off at being ignored all the time she was just the person I needed. Plus it doesn't hurt that she was willing to give me a piece of that ass when you sure weren't."

Jacob stops his pacing and looks at Bella with a mock shameful look. "You know lack of sexual release has been proven to be quite detrimental to a teenage boys psyche. Add that on top of my mommy issues and well, I was just a boiling pot of fucked up." Jacob let's out a loud laugh as he turns away and looks for something on the table behind him. "Now lets get this show o-" Jacob doesn't finish as Bella finishes releasing herself from the chair and lunges at his back. She timed it just right and caught him off guard enough his body flails and sprawls out, knocking knives off the table in front of him.

Cashing in on her surprise, Bella sprints for the basement stairs and the freedom it represents. Bella's escape comes to a sudden end when Jacob wraps his calloused fingers around her ankle, yanking her backwards. Her chin connects with the wooden stair, pain flaring along all her senses, darkness flaring around the edges of her vision disabling her long enough for Jacob to drag her back onto the floor and flip her over.

The fear Bella feels is taking a back seat to her determination to survive this, to survive him. She kicks at him, her sneakered foot hitting him on the chin. Unfortunately that only enrages him more and he launches himself at her, pinning her legs down with his body as he grabs her wrists in an attempt to subdue her. Turning her head Bella bites Jacob's wrist hard enough to break skin, the taste of metallic blood almost making her hurl but this is not the time to be weak, this is the time to get away.

As Jacob roars in pain, pulling his hand away Bella curls her fingers into her palm just like Charlie taught her and she punches him as hard as she is able too considering the restricted space she has to swing a punch in. Unfortunately, it isn't enough of a blow to stun Jacob. But it is enough to push Jacob over the edge. Pushing himself up, his face contorted in anger and the hatred that has been simmering under the surface of his skin from the day he lost his mother, jacob wraps both his hands around Bella's throat, squeezing.

"Die, bitch!" Jacob shouts.

At first Bella grabs at Jacob's hands, trying to pry his fingers away from her neck. Desperate for air, she scratches at his skin like a feral animal acting on instinct, trying to survive but Jacob just squeezes harder and shouts louder. Bella is about to give up and accept the darkness, darkness that is creeping in from the edges of her vision. Her last thought is of her mother, strapped to a chair bleeding on this very floor where she's losing the fight for life. Like kindle to the dying embers of Bella's fire, the image of her mother smiling gives Bella the will to fight on just that little while longer. Bella throws out her arms looking for salvation when her numbed fingers tips find the unmistakable coldness of a blade. One of Jacob's forgotten tools of torture.

With determination verging on desperation, Bella stretches her arm as far as she can and takes the blade securely in her palm before bringing it wack and lodging it into Jacob's back. Shocked, Jacob rears back his arms trying to reach the blade, trying to pull it out.

Spluttering for air, Bella takes a couple of deep breath through a raw and ragged throat before pushing herself up off the ground. Lying between the tools of death littered on the floor Bella grabs the machete, takes it firmly in both her hands and swings it like a bat at Jacob's head.

"This is for my mom!" She shouts as the sharp blade cuts through his flesh severing his head from his body.

The expression of utter shock etched on Jacob's face is almost comical but Bella doesn't allow herself to dwell. She is still driven by her survival instinct, she still needs to escape the confines of this basement tomb and as such she doesn't look back at Jacob's body laying in a pool of blood when she races up the stairs.

As Bella emerges from the front door a hand on her ankle nearly sends her flying down the front path. She looks down to find a bloody Edward laid out on her front steps. Even with the obvious signs of pain on his face nothing has ever been a more welcome sight to Bella in her life.

"Oh Edward!" Bella collapses next to him taking his face between her hands. His body is nearly limp in her hands but there is still life in his eyes.

"I tried…..I tried... couldn't Bella. " His weak voice tries to get his point across as his eyes glance around her looking danger or for signs of injury.

"I know Edward. I thought you were dead! Im just….so…." Bella can't even finish her thought as the emotions overwhelm her. So instead she crushes her lips to his in hopes of conveying all the feelings racing around her. Feelings of relief, regret and hope. Edward uses his last bit of energy to wrap his arms around the girl before him. He can see the regret in her eyes, he can taste the relief in her tears and he is devoured by his own feelings of hope. Hope that finally the monsters of their shared past can be buried.

Even the flashing blue and red lights of the police and ambulance dancing across their faces isn't enough to distract them and break them apart. They see only each other and the solace they found when their souls met.

~DR~

Charlie slams on the breaks of his police cruiser sending the gravel of his own front yard flying in a spray of pebbles. Charlie's door stays open as he steps out of his vehicle and with relief, his eyes focus on the individuals standing between the open back doors of an ambulance.

"BELLAAA!" Charlies screams over the chaos, catapulting his body across the space between them.

Bella turns around from focusing on where Edward is being worked on, on the stretcher in front of her. Her arms open just as Charlie envelopes her in his. The familiar smell and scratch of her dad's police uniform automatically calms her adrenaline heightened veins.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy." Bella's sobs are muffled by her face buried in Charlies chest. The tears she had been holding at bay can no longer stay contained as the protective force of her father lets her know that it is okay.

"Bells are you okay?" Charlie visually checks his daughter as she clutches tightly to him.

Now that he has his daughter safely encased in his arms Charlie takes the time to look around at the chaos that has flooded his yard. Memories of a year ago crash into his brain but he pushes them back.

"What the hell is going on? The neighbor called into the station, something about a bloody boy collapsed on our front steps?"

Bella pulls back to look at her father. "Oh, daddy it's Jacob. It's been Jacob this whole time. He's dead daddy. He's dead." Bella crushes her head back into Charlie's chest as a new round of sobs wracks her body.

"Oh hon. I'm so sorry." Charlie isn't positive about what has happened but hearing his daughter say Jacob's dead means nothing good. He knows from the shaking in her body she needs something positive to grasp before he loses her to the same place he almost did when her mother died.

"Hey." Charlie pulls Bella away to look her in the eye. "They found Em." Bella's eye widen. She figured with the scene she saw her friend was gone just like the others. "He got hurt pretty bad but Seth found him hiding in the woods behind his house during a sweep."

The joy in Bella's heart leaves her short of breath until the slam of an ambulance door shocks her back into the present.

"We need to get him to the hospital. Are you going along?" The EMT informs her. Bella looks up at her dad questioningly.

"Go." He kisses his daughter's forehead and ushers her towards the open door. "Go get checked out while you're there. I'm going to check out things here and then I'll meet you down there."

Bella immediately clamors into the ambulance and slides into the bench taking Edwards hand in hers as the last door shuts them safely inside and they move towards the hospital and away from the horrors behind them.

~DR~

The night was a hive of activity, from ambulances escorting patients to police canvassing scenes and cordoning off possible crime scenes. Charlie stands with his arms crossed over his chest, looking on as the small limp body of another of Bella's friends is loaded into an ambulance for transport to the morgue. Alice was found not even a block away from their home, bleeding onto the dark asphalt. The EMT pronounced her dead within seconds of arriving. Taking a deep breath, Charlie takes a step backwards before turning back to his house wondering if they would ever, really make any sense of all the madness that had occurred over the past few weeks.

With a clang of metal the stretcher is loaded into the back of the ambulance before the doors are shut with a dull thud. The sirens aren't turned on because there is no life to be saved. As the ambulance swerves around a corner Alice's limp hand slides out from under the white linen of the blanket they had used to cover her with, hanging over the edge.

The blood on her hands has long since dried to look like rust on her twitching porcelain fingers.

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**A/N Punk- Oh no every good horror fanatic knows you NEVER transport them in an ambulance. And you always make sure their dead! Btw in no way are we leaving this open to a sequel. Thats what the epi is for!**

**A/N Angel - There you have it people, the bad guys bite the dust. Or have they? Wasn't there some rule about them always coming back? What do you think?**

**We know there are still a lot of questions unanswered. Don't stress your blood thirsty little heads, the answers are coming in the epilogue.**


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